U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) is blocking Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark's nomination to four-star commander of the U.S. Army Pacific force over concerns about Clark's role in Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalization not being immediately disclosed.
Austin was secretly hospitalized in January for complications from prostate surgery.
According to Tuberville spokeswoman Mallory Jaspers, Clark "knew that Sec. Austin was incapacitated and did not tell the Commander in Chief."
During a Tuesday interview on Newsmax's "National Report," Tuberville said Clark "might be qualified" but was "going to pay the price" for withholding important information such as Austin's hospitalization.
"Yeah, you might be qualified, but if you can't make a good decision while you're in a job that's responsible for something, then you've got problems," Tuberville outlined. "I mean, he was very close to Lloyd Austin, he was on his staff, and he made the decision not to let the Commander-in-Chief, Joe Biden, or anybody else, know that he was in the hospital."
"I mean, we're in a dangerous world, and the Department of Defense needs to be hitting on all cylinders," he continued. "This guy made a decision, 'I'm not going to tell anybody [about Austin]. We're going to work our way through this and maybe nobody will find out.' He's going to pay the price for this."
Tuberville said he would not lift his hold until the forthcoming inspector general report.
"I'm not going to lift this hold until we have the full review," he declared, adding that the position required "someone trustworthy."
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