Democrats failed to inform President Joe Biden during a Congressional hearing Thursday with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that he has been hospitalized for three full days amid two wars and attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. He defended Mr.
After House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) called Austin’s failure “disgraceful,” the committee’s top Democrat defended himself.
“There was nothing embarrassing about what happened here. There was nothing to make us look weak,” Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) responded.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., Photographer: Rich Clement/Bloomberg via Getty Images *** Local Caption Adam Smith ***
Other Democrats on the committee similarly defended Austin or argued that there were more important things to discuss than whether Austin’s failure to relay information to Biden led to a breakdown in the chain of command.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) said it would be “wrong” to put Austin to task instead of passing a bill to provide funding to Ukraine.
John Garamendi
“We’re spending our time here trying to get you on a mission. It’s wrong. We’re failing. Let me say this – the leadership of this House is failing. We have additional spending that is absolutely necessary for the defense of Ukraine. It has been stagnant for months,” Garamendi told Austin.
Rep. Salud Carvajal (D-Calif.) told Austin he was “pleased” with Austin’s response to the issue.
This situation could have been handled better, but hindsight is 20/20. You are taking accountability, apologizing, and working on recommendations to prevent this from happening again. As a veteran myself, I have nothing to say on this matter. I am satisfied with the response to the mistake.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former Pentagon official under Obama, thanked Austin for “putting up with the outrage and drama.” she said:
UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 17: Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., speaks with reporters after a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus at the Capitol on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. (Photo by: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
I would just say, “Look, you made a mistake.” you admitted it. You are taking steps to address it. And what is your responsibility to have to come and sit in front of people in public and play out their anger and drama about your health problems and the mistakes you admitted you made? I would like to know what is going on.
This committee has always been really calm in the storm when it comes to bipartisanship. So when we come back together in a month to have a hearing with the Secretary, I hope that we will focus on what is actually important to our national security. The apology this man made, instead of denying the crimes he committed, please do the American people’s business.
During the hearing, Austin denied that there was any break in the chain of command from the president to the military, but after Austin became seriously ill on January 2, military aides transferred authority to the deputy secretary of defense. He admitted that he had made the decision to do so. Because since January 1st, he has not had a mobile phone and it has been difficult to contact him.
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