WASHINGTON – President Biden announced there are “no plans” to fire Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. President Biden said Monday there are “no plans” to fire Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the top military adviser failed to tell his superiors that he had been hospitalized for several days last week due to complications from elective surgery. Announced.
“What the president cares about most is himself.” [Austin’s] “We wish you good health and recovery, and we look forward to returning to the Pentagon as soon as possible,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Carolina. ” he said.
Austin, 70, has been hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Medical Center since New Year's Day, and his duties have been handed over to Deputy Chief Kathleen Hicks while he is incapacitated.
problem? Not only was Biden not immediately informed of the situation, but neither was Hicks. She was vacationing in Puerto Rico when she learned of Mr. Austin's hospitalization on Thursday, the day before the news became public.
The White House and the Pentagon announced that Mr. Austin resumed his duties on Friday, albeit from Walter Reed.
“He's already performing all the functions that you would normally do. He's doing it from a hospital bed right now,” Kirby said. ” [are] There is no other plan than for Secretary Austin to remain in office and continue the leadership he has shown. ”
Not only did the Pentagon not properly notify the White House of Austin's condition, it waited until after business on Friday to make the situation public.
The secretary underwent mysterious surgery at Walter Reed Hospital on December 22 and was released the next day. On the night of Jan. 1, “he began experiencing severe pain” and was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed, where he was “admitted to the intensive care unit,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said Monday.
Ryder blamed Austin's chief of staff for the late notification, saying that the chief of staff was “out with the flu, so the notification was delayed.”
“We are currently considering how these notification procedures can be improved, including notification to the White House and Congress,” the Pentagon official added.
But it wasn't on New Year's Day that Austin was hospitalized without the president's knowledge. The White House was also not told that the defense secretary stayed overnight at Walter Reed on Dec. 22 after his first surgery.
In a letter to the Pentagon spokesperson shortly after the notification was received, the Pentagon Press Association called Austin's four-day hospitalization an “unconscionable act” and said that “the Pentagon did not respond until late Friday. We are warning the public.”
Three days later, the Pentagon has not commented on the details of Austin's “elective” surgery or said when he plans to return to the Pentagon in person.
Mysterious surgeries and bizarre secrecy have baffled lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) on Sunday issued a joint statement requesting further information and information. They said they were “concerned about how disclosures…will be handled.”
“What were the medical procedures and associated complications? What is the Secretary's current health condition? When and how was the Secretary's responsibilities delegated? Why was there a delay in notifying the President and Congress? , several questions remain unanswered,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Transparency is critical. Secretary Austin must provide additional details regarding his health and the decision-making process that has taken place over the past week as soon as possible.”
Some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have called for Austin to be removed from office, and the top Republican presidential candidate said the Pentagon chief should be “immediately removed for professional misconduct and dereliction of duty.” ” he said.
“He's been missing for a week and no one, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue where he was or might be,” Trump, 77, said. , I wrote it on Truth Social Sunday.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and others used the situation to mock Biden.
“Is anyone surprised that we didn’t know where Joe Biden was? [Lloyd] What about Austin? ” Jordan said on X Monday.
“What's worse,” Sen. Tom Cottom (R-Ark.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked on Monday.[Austin] Did he not tell President Biden that he was hospitalized, or did no one in the White House notice?
“This raises serious questions about President Biden's competency and leadership.”
The delay in notification violated the Department of Defense's own “'' regulations.information principles“It is the policy of the Department of Defense to provide timely and accurate information to enable the public, Congress, and the press to evaluate and understand the facts about national security and national defense strategy.''
“The public has a right to know when U.S. Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia, or are delegated duties as a result of medical procedures. That is customary all the way down to the presidential level,” the Pentagon said. the reporters wrote. “As the nation's top defense official, Secretary Austin has no right to claim privacy in this situation.”
“Keeping Americans informed about their health status is especially important at a time when threats to U.S. service members in the Middle East are increasing and the United States plays a critical national security role in the wars in Israel and Ukraine.” and the decision-making ability of its top defensive leaders,” they added.
Mr. Biden plans to keep Mr. Austin in the job for now, but Mr. Kirby also said he was looking forward to “what the Biden administration can learn from this.”
“I fully expect that we will look at the processes and procedures here,” he said. “We're going to do something similar to a hot wash and see if we need to change or modify our processes or procedures at all and learn from that.”
