There are still some unanswered questions about Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin's hospitalization and transfer of authority to a deputy in January that was kept secret from Congress and even President Joe Biden and the White House for several days.

Now, while awaiting a thorough review of what occurred by the Pentagon's inspector general, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has placed a hold on Senate confirmation of a major promotion for a top Austin aide who played a key role in the secrecy, according to the Associated Press.

Tuberville's hold effectively blocks the White House nomination in July of Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, currently serving as Austin's senior military assistant, to be promoted and serve as the commander of all U.S. Army forces in the Pacific theater.

Clark's key role in keeping Austin's hospitalization a secret

Sec. Austin, who was quietly diagnosed with and underwent surgery for prostate cancer in December, was hospitalized in critical care for several days in early January after suffering complications, and though his authority was quickly transferred to a deputy while he was incapacitated, nobody other than Austin's immediate senior staff was notified of his hospitalization or the situation more broadly under several days later.

The episode sparked intense bipartisan outrage over the fact that the Defense secretary's condition, including his cancer diagnosis and incapacitation in the hospital, and the temporary transfer of authority was initially kept secret from the relevant committees and members of Congress and even President Biden and the White House.

At the center of that secrecy was Austin's top military aide, Lt. Gen. Clark, who helped execute the transfer of authority to the deputy secretary and informed Austin's chief of staff and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the situation but nobody else, according to an unclassified 30-day review conducted by civilian Pentagon staffers.

Notably, despite acknowledging the lack of communication with others outside the military and making recommendations for changes to the transfer of authority protocol, the report concluded that "nothing examined during this review demonstrated any indication of ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate."

Dueling statements from senator and Pentagon

According to The Washington Post, which was the first to report on Sen. Tuberville's hold on Lt. Gen. Clark's promotion, the Alabama senator is now waiting for a more thorough and independent review conducted by the Pentagon's inspector general before relenting on Clark's nomination.

"Sen. Tuberville has concerns about Lt. Gen. Clark’s actions during Secretary Austin’s hospitalization," spokeswoman Mallory Jaspers told The Post. "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," she added.

The Pentagon unsurprisingly pushed back against the hold and, as usual, claimed that military readiness would be negatively impacted if the promotion of Clark wasn't fast-tracked through the Senate confirmation process.

"Lt. Gen. Clark is highly qualified and was nominated for this critical position because of his experience and strategic expertise," spokesman James Adams said. "We urge the Senate to confirm all of our qualified nominees. These holds undermine our military readiness."

"I'm not gonna lift this hold until we have the full review"

Sen. Tuberville has stood firm on the hold, however, and told Newsmax on Tuesday that Lt. Gen. Clark "might be qualified but if you can't make a good decision while you're in a job that is responsible for something, then you got problems."

Reflecting on Clark's role in the secrecy, the senator said, "He's gonna pay the price for this. I'm not gonna lift this hold until we have the full review," and added that "a lot of Democrats are also on the same bandwagon with this. They don't trust what happened in this scenario."