Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Tuesday he plans to block the nomination of an aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III for a top Army job over his role in sharing information when Austin was hospitalized in December and January.
President Joe Biden in July tapped Army Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark for a promotion to general, with an assignment as the commander of U.S. Army Pacific in Fort Shafter, Hawaii. Clark currently is the senior military assistant to the secretary of Defense.
But Tuberville said he had concerns over Clark’s involvement in decisions to delay notification to the White House and lawmakers when Austin was hospitalized to treat prostate cancer.
“He should have been the one that told the White House and the commander-in-chief that ‘we’ve got a problem; the secretary of Defense is in the hospital, in pretty bad shape,'” Tuberville told reporters. “But he didn’t. And so that’s a show of non-leadership.”
Following his early December diagnosis, Austin underwent a prostatectomy on Dec. 22 without informing the president, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, members of Congress or the public. He was readmitted to the hospital on Jan. 1 for complications stemming from the earlier procedure.
During his January hospital stay, Austin spent time in the intensive care unit, and some of his duties were transferred to Hicks on Jan. 2. Hicks, who was vacationing in Puerto Rico at the time, only learned on Jan. 4 that Austin had been hospitalized. The White House was also unaware of Austin’s status until days into his hospitalization.
The episode provoked a harsh bipartisan response, and Austin assured lawmakers at a February House Armed Services Committee hearing that the Pentagon had put new procedures in place to avoid a future breakdown of communication.
“Lt. Gen. Clark knew that Sec. Austin was incapacitated and did not tell the Commander in Chief. As a senior commissioned officer, Lt. Gen. Clark’s oath requires him to notify POTUS when the chain of command is compromised,” said Tuberville spokeswoman Mallory Jaspers in a statement on Tuesday. “Sen. Tuberville is waiting to see the forthcoming IG report.”
The Pentagon’s inspector general office is in the midst of a probe into the department’s notification procedures and the process for transferring leadership authorities. It’s unclear when that work will be completed.
Tuberville didn’t guarantee that he would lift his hold once the IG report is released. The Washington Post was the first to report the hold.
“If it comes out and says ‘he did it for this reason,’ and I disagree with it, we’re not going to let him have that promotion. Not going to do it,” he said. “But I’ve got an open mind. We need a strong military; we’re in tough times right now. I hate that we have to do this. But come on, get the IG report and get it out. Let us look at it.”
An earlier internal DOD review, released in late February, found no “indication of ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate” related to the matter, saying privacy considerations “limited” Austin’s staff in both receiving and sharing information on his health and seemingly absolving the department from any wrongdoing in the situation.
A three-page unclassified summary of that review referenced the senior military assistant’s involvement in disseminating information to the rest of the team regarding Austin’s hospitalization.
While the summary did not mention Clark by name, it stated that the senior military assistant on Jan. 2 informed Austin’s chief of staff, as well as the Joint Chiefs chairman, about Austin’s stay at Walter Reed and the subsequent transfer of authority to Hicks. It added that the senior military assistant further told the assistant to the secretary of Defense for Public Affairs about Austin’s hospitalization.
The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced Clark’s nomination by voice vote in late July, before breaking for the August recess. Clark’s promotion has yet to be considered on the floor.
Tuberville’s fellow Senate Armed Services member, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., told reporters that he is still waiting for more information from the Biden administration about the episode, but he didn’t offer comment on the nominee.
“I also have issues with how the DOD handled [Austin’s] leaving and hospitalization for a couple days, and we’re owed some answers on that,” he said Tuesday. “With regards to that specific lieutenant general and his promotion, I haven’t looked into his role in this, so I don’t really have much of an opinion.”
Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., on Tuesday praised Clark as “a very distinguished Army officer” who doesn’t have “any deleterious information against him.” He also signaled he was open to the idea of using floor time to get Clark’s nomination over the finish line.
“I think we have to get him confirmed because, again, playing politics with military promotions is not appropriate,” he told reporters. “Those should be based on the qualities of the individual.”
Tuberville’s move could renew partisan rancor over a 10-month block on nominations that snarled more than 400 military promotions last year. Tuberville finally dropped his holds, a protest of the Pentagon’s policy reimbursing travel expenses for servicemembers who must travel out of state to obtain abortions, amid bipartisan pressure in December 2023.
The Pentagon warned of the harm of holding up the nominee.
“We would urge the Senate to confirm all of our qualified nominees, and as we’ve seen before these kinds of holds can really undermine our military readiness,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.
Mark Satter contributed to this report.
The post Tuberville blocks an Army nominee over Austin hospitalization appeared first on Roll Call.
