Senate confirms commander of US Army forces in the Pacific after Tuberville drops objections

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed a new commander of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific after Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville dropped his objections and allowed a quick vote on the nomination.

Tuberville had blocked Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark’s nomination for months over concerns that the top military aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, along with other staff, did not immediately notify President Joe Biden when Austin was hospitalized with complications from cancer treatment earlier this year.

Clark, who Biden had nominated in July, was confirmed late Tuesday evening. Tuberville said Wednesday that he dropped his hold after meeting with Clark and talking to others in the Pentagon.

Tuberville had initially demanded to see a report from the Pentagon’s inspector general that will review the matter, but that report hasn’t yet been released and Congress is leaving Washington until after the November election.

“I didn’t want to leave him hanging, so I asked him to come over and we sat down and talked for about an hour,” Tuberville said. Clark’s explanation matched that of others he had spoken to, “so I trusted him and what he was telling me,” Tuberville said.

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