The Department of Defense (DOD) did not notify the White House about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's four-day hospitalization, according to multiple reports.
Austin was admitted to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Monday due to medical issues related to an elective surgery he underwent, reportedly ending up in the intensive care unit for several days. NBC News and politiko. Key White House National Security Council (NSC) officials were not informed of the hospitalization until Thursday, while Pentagon officials and members of Congress were not informed until Friday.
The Pentagon reportedly withheld information about Austin's hospitalization from the public until Friday night and alerted members of Congress just 15 minutes before its release, according to Politico. Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security adviser, was not informed of Austin's position until Thursday. (Related: 'Is it a red line?': Lloyd Austin Shirk asks whether the US would retaliate if Iranian proxies killed Americans)
'I'm embarrassed by your leadership': Matt Gates and Lloyd Austin argue over the state of the US military https://t.co/j2od1xv89J
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A Pentagon official told Politico that officials in Austin informed his office that he was working from home this week. “This shouldn't have happened,” an anonymous U.S. government official told Politico. The official was granted anonymity so he could speak freely about sensitive matters.
According to NBC News, his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, filled in while Austin was off duty. Mr. Hicks was not in Washington to oversee the agency, but was instead vacationing in Puerto Rico.
Hicks “has consistently maintained good communication with Pentagon officials,” a department official told NBC News. “She has overseen the day-to-day operations of the Department of Defense and has performed some of the day-to-day operations.”
“The Deputy Secretary of Defense has always been prepared to exercise that authority on behalf of the Deputy Secretary of Defense as necessary,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a news release Friday. statement.
It is unclear whether the lack of communication was intentional, but at least one expert is highly skeptical that such important information was miscommunicated or overlooked.
Arnold Punaro, a former Marine Corps major general and former chief of staff on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “This is very out of character for the Department of Defense, and clearly after a thoughtful discussion about what to do with this information.'' ,” he told Politico. According to nine Pentagon officials and two congressional aides cited by Politico, the hospitalization was a “closely guarded secret” and was not known to senior Pentagon or Congressional officials until shortly before the Pentagon's announcement. It is said that
Austin was still at Walter Reed as of Friday night, according to NBC News. The U.S. military conducted airstrikes in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday while Austin was away from duty.
News of Austin's hospitalization, and the lack of communication about it across relevant government agencies, led to Iranian-backed extremist groups, including Yemen's Houthis, mounting significant attacks against U.S. military and commercial interests in the Middle East in the months that followed. It happened during the strengthening. The Israel-Hamas war has begun.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon immediately responded to requests for comment.
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