Nearly nine months after he ended his unprecedented blockade of senior military promotions, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has placed a hold on the promotion of a high-level officer tapped to lead U.S. Army forces in the Pacific.
But Tuberville’s latest move is distinct from his 2023 blockade — and much more in line with Senate traditions.
For more than 10 months in 2023, Tuberville placed a blanket hold on all senior military promotions in order to pressure the Pentagon to scrap its abortion policy for service members. Tuberville relented in December and got nothing in return except bipartisan ire from his colleagues and the Pentagon.
Now, Tuberville is employing a common practice in the Senate: placing a hold due to concerns with the specific nominee.
Tuberville placed a hold on the promotion of Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark, who currently serves as a senior aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Washington Post first reported on Tuberville’s move.
Inside the hold: It stems from Austin’s January hospitalization, which neither Austin nor his office disclosed to the White House. The episode prompted bipartisan outrage.
But unlike his previous promotions blockade, Tuberville is actually giving himself a clear off-ramp here.
“I’m waiting for the [inspector general] review [about] him screwing up and not telling the president of the United States that his boss and head of the Department of Defense was in the hospital,” Tuberville told us. “You don’t need to get a promotion when everybody’s wondering, ‘What the heck’s going on here?’”
A defense official told us that the chain of command “was not compromised,” adding that it’s “completely inappropriate” for Tuberville to question the oath Clark took.
Clark is a West Point graduate who served in several major operations around the world for the past three decades. He currently serves as Austin’s senior military assistant. A DoD review of Austin’s hospitalization and the failure to alert the White House stated that there were no indications of “ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate.”
Next steps: There’s no timeline for the completion of the IG review, so it’s unclear how long Clark’s promotion will be tied up.
“We’ve got to get the confirmation done. Hopefully the information [Tuberville] wants will be provided,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told us.
Reed indicated he’d be willing to push for a floor vote on Clark’s promotion, but that could be difficult. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is prioritizing judicial nominations on the floor, and senators will eventually need to pass a government funding measure to avert a shutdown before Sept. 30.
— Andrew Desiderio
