Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pennsylvania), an Iraq war veteran, called on Wednesday for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign, accusing him of a lack of transparency about recent treatments.
Delzio said in a written statement:
I have lost confidence in Secretary Lloyd Austin's leadership of the Department of Defense. Because of the lack of transparency regarding his recent treatment and its impact on continuity of command. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have a solemn duty in Congress to oversee the Department of Defense. Today, because of that mission, I am required to call on Secretary Austin to resign.
“We thank Secretary Austin for his leadership and years of dedicated service to the American people, and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
The controversy surrounding Austin developed after President Joe Biden learned on Tuesday that the secretary had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent surgery.
Breitbart News' Christina Wong reported:
Mr. Austin's failure to tell his superiors about his cancer diagnosis and treatment calls into question Mr. Biden's own knowledge of the whereabouts of his defense secretary. The U.S. military has become a near-target, especially when the U.S. military is supporting Israel and Ukraine in the midst of a bitter war. Iran-backed proxy militias carry out daily attacks in Iraq and Syria, and the Red Sea is under barrage from U.S. warships and commercial vessels by Houthi rebels.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are outraged by the breakdown in communication between Mr. Biden and Mr. Austin, calling for national command authority, the power to convey lawful orders to the military, at such a difficult time. He points out that these are the only two members of Congress who are being held accountable. .
Deluzio represents Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District, a battleground state. He is the first Democratic member of both the House and Senate to call on Austin to resign.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter at Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
