Tuberville jams up top Army general’s promotion over Austin hospitalization episode

Sen. Tommy Tuberville is holding up a senior officer’s promotion to lead U.S. Army forces in the Pacific, accusing the officer in playing a role in hiding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization in January from the White House.

The Alabama Republican told POLITICO that he has placed a procedural hold on Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark’s promotion to a four-star general and argued he failed to alert the White House about Austin’s condition. Clark is currently Austin’s senior military aide.

In a brief interview, Tuberville said he was acting in the interest of other senators who want more information into Clark's role in Austin's hospitalization.

"Everybody wants information on why," Tuberville said. "We need a full understanding of why he did what he did, and not inform the commander in chief of the problem."

"This is not just one person. I mean this is, Democrat and Republican wanting to know what the heck happened here," he said. "And the American people need the truth here. Why did we not have full disclosure of what happened? And so once we get that, we'll be good."

A spokesperson for Tuberville, Mallory Jaspers, added that the GOP senator wants to see the results of a review by the Pentagon's inspector general into the episode.

"Lt. Gen. Clark knew that Sec. Austin was incapacitated and did not tell the Commander in Chief," Jaspers said in a statement. "As a senior commissioned officer, Lt. Gen. Clark’s oath requires him to notify [the president] when the chain of command is compromised."

A fight over Clark’s promotion could publicly reignite the controversy over Austin’s January hospital stay — the result of complications from a December surgery to treat prostate cancer — as well as another high-profile tiff between Pentagon brass and Tuberville, who held up hundreds of senior promotions for months last year.

On Jan. 1, the Pentagon chief was admitted to the hospital for three days before President Joe Biden and White House officials knew about it — though Austin transferred his duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks the day after he was rushed to the emergency room.

The delay of Clark’s promotion was first reported by The Washington Post .

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said Clark is "a competent officer" who should be confirmed. In an interview, he said he disagrees with Tuberville's assertion that a deeper dive on the incident is needed before Clark is promoted.

"I don't think there's any basis for the hold," Reed said.

Tuberville alone can’t prevent Clark’s confirmation but can lengthen the typically quick process. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could force procedural votes to get around the Republican senator’s objections.

But Schumer may opt against forcing a vote on Clark out of concerns it would revive outrage over Austin and his secretive hospital stay and put Democrats in a tough political spot weeks before an election. A spokesperson for the Democratic Senate leader didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reed left open the possibility of forcing a vote to confirm Clark and bypassing Tuberville's hold.

"If necessary, I'm going to try my best to get the vote on the floor," Reed said.

The surprise news of Austin’s hospitalization drew bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill, though more so from Republicans, including calls for his resignation. Biden, however, rebuffed calls for Austin’s ouster over the incident. Austin apologized for the episode and took heat from lawmakers in a House Armed Services hearing in February.

Still, the saga prompted questions about Pentagon procedures for transferring power and why Austin’s top staff who knew of his hospitalization didn’t notify the White House and Congress quicker. The Pentagon’s inspector general launched a review of the incident in January.

Senators also tacked a provision onto their annual defense bill that requires the deputy secretary to inform Congress at least 24 hours before assuming the secretary’s responsibility in a planned transfer of duties, or 24 hours after an unplanned transfer.

Clark was nominated for a fourth star and to become the next head of U.S. Army Pacific in July.

The Senate Armed Services Committee, which Tuberville sits on, advanced Clark’s promotion in late July. But the Senate did not confirm him before it recessed for five weeks.

Reed pointed to the quick Armed Services vote, arguing Austin's hospitalization wasn't an issue for committee members when Clark was nominated. Reed said he didn't learn of Tuberville's objection until Monday when it became public.

"There was no issue. He moved through unanimously," Reed said.

He called Clark "a professional officer whose whole career has been reviewed by the Department of Defense and he's been deemed to be the best candidate for U.S. Army Pacific."

Tuberville is no stranger to causing headaches on the military personnel front. The Alabama Republican stalled several hundred promotions for generals and admirals for most of last year in a bid to undo the Pentagon’s policy to reimburse travel costs for troops who seek abortions — a holdup that delayed top military commanders and caused several vacancies on the Joint Chiefs. He finally dropped his objections amid pressure from Republicans.