{"id":2338956,"date":"2024-09-09T22:12:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T02:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tuberville-blocks-pentagon-nominee-over-role-in-lloyd-austins-two-week-absence-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-09T22:18:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T02:18:19","slug":"tuberville-blocks-pentagon-nominee-over-role-in-lloyd-austins-two-week-absence-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tuberville-blocks-pentagon-nominee-over-role-in-lloyd-austins-two-week-absence-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuberville blocks Pentagon nominee over role in Lloyd Austin\u2019s two-week absence &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftuberville-blocks-pentagon-nominee-over-role-in-lloyd-austins-two-week-absence-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2338956&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has\u2063 blocked the promotion \u200bof Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark, who is currently the\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-confirms-gen-eric-smith-as-commandant-of-marine-corps\/\" title=\"Gen. Eric Smith confirmed as Marine Corps Commandant by Senate.\">senior military assistant<\/a> to Defense Secretary Lloyd\u200d Austin, due to concerns over Clark&#8217;s actions during Austin&#8217;s hospitalization last December. Clark and \u2064other \u200dsenior officials failed to inform President Biden about \u200dAustin\u2019s incapacitation following surgery for prostate cancer, which led to Austin developing complications \u200dand being placed in intensive care. Tuberville&#8217;s office criticized Clark for not following the chain of command, highlighting\u200c his failure to notify the President. Austin&#8217;s delayed\u200c communication about his health sparked public outcry, leading him\u2064 to apologize for his oversight. Tuberville&#8217;s move reflects his ongoing strategy of stalling military confirmations in \u200dresponse to the Department of Defense&#8217;s abortion policy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Tuberville blocks Pentagon nominee over role in Lloyd Austin&rsquo;s two-week absence<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1757047\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tommy-tuberville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Tommy Tuberville<\/a> (R-AL) blocked the promotion of an Army general over the role he allegedly played in keeping Defense Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lloyd-austin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Lloyd Austin<\/a>&rsquo;s hospitalization under wraps months ago.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark is Austin&rsquo;s senior military assistant who is in the running to become the four-star commander of the U.S. Army forces in the Pacific. His promotion is now stalled in the Senate after Tuberville blocked his nomination, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2024\/09\/09\/tommy-tuberville-ronald-clark-lloyd-austin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> from the <em>Washington Post<\/em> on Monday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tuberville is joined by his wife Suzanne Tuberville as he takes the oath of office from Vice President Mike Pence during a reenactment ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;Sen. Tuberville has concerns about Lt. Gen. Clark&rsquo;s actions during Secretary Austin&rsquo;s hospitalization,&rdquo; Tuberville&rsquo;s spokeswoman, Mallory Jaspers explained in comments to the outlet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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&rsquo;s oath requires him to notify POTUS when the chain of command is compromised,&rdquo; Jaspers continued. <\/p>\n<p>Clark was one of the senior members of Austin&rsquo;s inner circle who became embroiled in controversy after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/did-president-trump-spring-a-trap-on-treasonous-democrats-on-election-night\/\" title=\"Did President Trump Spring a Trap on Treasonous Democrats on Election Night?\">defense secretary<\/a> was hospitalized for an operation last December.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Although Austin underwent surgery to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-thom-tillis-says-he-will-undergo-surgery-for-prostate-cancer\/\" title=\"Sen. Thom Tillis Says He Will Undergo Surgery For Prostate Cancer\">treat prostate cancer<\/a> on Dec. 22, the public wasn&rsquo;t informed about the top defense official&rsquo;s operation until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/lloyd-austin-hospitalization-timeline-white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>two weeks<\/a> later. Clark and other top Department of Defense officials were kept in the dark about Austin&rsquo;s hospitalization for 11 days, even as the country&rsquo;s defense chief developed complications and was sent to intensive care. Austin&rsquo;s senior aides waited for days after learning of their boss&rsquo;s healthcare debacle before disclosing the affair to President Joe Biden and top White House officials on Jan. 4.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Austin&rsquo;s secrecy sparked widespread outcry from Washington, with Biden saying his defense secretary had exhibited a lapse in judgment by not being transparent about his health prognosis and extended hospital stay.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The defense chief later apologized for his actions, telling reporters, &ldquo;I want to be crystal clear: We did not handle this right.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility,&rdquo; Austin said on Feb. 1.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Austin looks down during a press conference as part of the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. AP Photo\/Michael Probst)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Before clinching his senate seat in 2021, Tuberville was the head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. His move to stall&nbsp;Clark&rsquo;s promotion in the Senate comes after he attracted Austin&rsquo;s ire for similarly conducting a monthslong blockade on military confirmations over the DOD&lsquo;s abortion policy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Alabama Republican prevented the upper chamber from approving military promotions quickly en masse during the bulk of 2023. His action <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tuberville.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/what-they-are-saying-support-grows-for-tubervilles-stand-against-illegal-dod-abortion-expansion-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>stemmed from concerns<\/a> that the Pentagon was using taxpayer dollars to cover travel expenses for servicemembers traveling to get an abortion.<\/p>\n<p>Tuberville <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tuberville.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/what-they-are-saying-support-grows-for-tubervilles-stand-against-illegal-dod-abortion-expansion-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>claimed<\/a> that a policy Austin <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2022\/Oct\/20\/2003099747\/-1\/-1\/1\/MEMORANDUM-ENSURING-ACCESS-TO-REPRODUCTIVE-HEALTH-CARE.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>unveiled<\/a> in 2022 expanded &ldquo;taxpayer-subsided abortion in the military beyond what is currently allowed under federal law.&rdquo; Though the Alabama lawmaker allowed for voting on military nominees one by one, Austin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.warren.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/IMPACT%20OF%20HOLDS%20ON%20THE%20CONFIRMATION%20OF%20GENERAL%20AND%20FLAG%20OFFICERS%20OSD003060-23%20RESP%20Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>alleged<\/a> his actions &ldquo;would set a perilous precedent for our military, our security, and our country.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1757047\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1757047\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has halted the promotion of an Army general due to his alleged involvement in concealing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin&#8217;s hospitalization several months ago. Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark, who serves as Austin&#8217;s senior military assistant, was being considered for the position of four-star commander of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific, but his nomination is now stalled in the Senate following Tuberville&#8217;s intervention, as reported by the Washington Post on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>According to Tuberville\u2019s spokesperson Mallory Jaspers, &#8220;Sen. Tuberville has concerns about Lt. Gen. Clark\u2019s actions during Secretary Austin\u2019s hospitalization.&#8221; She stated that Clark was aware that Secretary Austin was incapacitated but failed to inform the Commander in Chief, which she argues is a breach of duty for a senior officer who is obligated to notify the President when there are issues with the chain of command.<\/p>\n<p>Clark was part of Austin&#8217;s close circle during a controversial period when Austin underwent surgery for prostate cancer on December 22 and did not publicly disclose this information until two weeks later. During this time, even high-ranking officials at the Department of Defense were unaware that Austin had been hospitalized for 11 days and had developed complications requiring intensive care before they informed President Joe Biden and other White House officials on January 4.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of transparency surrounding Austin\u2019s health led to significant backlash from Washington; President Biden criticized him for not being forthcoming about his medical situation and extended hospital stay. In response to this controversy, Austin later expressed regret over how he handled communication regarding his health issues.<\/p>\n<p>Before becoming a senator in 2021, Tuberville served as head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. His decision to block Clark\u2019s promotion follows previous tensions with Secretary Austin over military confirmations related to abortion policies within the Department of Defense (DOD). Throughout much of 2023, Tuberville delayed military promotions due to concerns that taxpayer funds were being used for travel expenses related to servicemembers seeking abortions\u2014a policy he claimed expanded beyond what federal law permits\u2014despite allowing individual votes on nominees while maintaining his broader objections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2338957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Austin.-.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[40515,40514,40513,3740,6305],"class_list":["post-2338956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-defense-politics","tag-lloyd-austin","tag-pentagon-nominee","tag-senate","tag-tuberville"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Austin.-.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2338956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2338957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2338956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2338956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2338956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}