Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and 11 other Republican senators said the Pentagon inspector general's report released this week would raise the law when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hid multiple people. President Joe Biden is demanding that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin be held accountable after he was found not to have complied with the law. Hospitalizations from the White House occur, disrupting the chain of command and putting public safety at risk.
According to the IG's report, Austin violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) twice in December 2023 and January 2024, but in June 2024, he committed an additional violation unknown to the U.S. public. It was discovered that there were two violations.
in letter Wicker and other senators wrote to Biden on Thursday:
For several days in December, January, and June, no one in Congress or the Administration knew that Secretary Austin was unable to perform the duties and duties of the Secretary, or that Deputy Secretary Hicks was Acting Secretary…
In these absences, your administration is still reeling from Chinese intelligence and reconnaissance balloons sailing across the United States, and Putin continues to wage a violent and illegal war against Ukraine while rattling nuclear sabers. And violent Islamic terrorists and other Iranian-backed extremists, emboldened by your disastrous abandonment of Afghanistan, were ramping up their historic attacks on Israel.
The world was far from stable, and America was far from safe. But what makes this situation even worse is that the moment Secretary Austin's office became vacant, no one could control the nuclear football and the entire American nuclear enterprise was left alone.
“While we are incredibly fortunate that no major national security crises occurred during Secretary Austin's incompetence, [Office of Inspector General] “The report itself recognizes that had the crisis occurred within that period, the outcome for our country could have been dire,” they wrote.
The Pentagon report will be released to the public in the remaining days of the Biden administration, and accountability for Austin does not seem imminent.
But the senators argued that he “betrayed his office, betrayed the American people's trust, repeatedly violated the FVRA, and must be held accountable for fumbling with the nuclear football.”
“Secretary Austin must be held accountable for his irresponsible actions, your administration’s repeated violations of FVRA, and his mishandling of the nuclear football. To be sure, uniformed officers are responsible for one of these things. Unfortunately, those in charge seem to believe that the same standards do not apply to them as civilians. “We will no longer tolerate a lack of accountability for the failures of our military's senior leaders, whether they are civilians or military personnel,” the senators wrote.
He added, “In his final week in office, Secretary Austin must do the right thing by holding him accountable for his repeated failures to comply with the law and notifying Congress of his vacancy.”
The letter included Wicker and committee members Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), and Joni Ernst. It is signed by Sen. (R-Iowa) and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota). ), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Ted Budd K (R-NC), Eric Schmidt (R-NC) -Missouri), Jim Banks (R-Indiana), and Tim Sheehy (R-Montana).
01.16.25 SASC Letter to Potus Re Secdef Fvra Violations Signed (003) by Christina Wong On Scribd
The IG's investigation comes after the Department of Defense said in a Jan. 5, 2024 statement that Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the night of Jan. 1 for “complications following a recent elective medical procedure.” It started with the recognition that The Pentagon said he was “expected to resume full duty” that day.
Austin did not inform the President, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, or Congress until January 4, 2024. Austin was on vacation in Puerto Rico and did not even inform his lieutenant, who remained there while he assumed some of his duties.
The report found that Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks also failed to notify Congress and the White House as required by law when she became acting secretary.
Inspector General Robert P. Storch said in a statement:
The ability of the Department of Defense and the government to function seamlessly and provide continued leadership under all circumstances is fundamental to national security.
Although we did not find any adverse impact on Department of Defense operations resulting from the way hospitalizations were handled, we did not find any adverse effects on Department of Defense operations resulting from the way hospitalizations were handled; however, they did not unnecessarily increase risks to the national defense, including the command and control of the Department of Defense's critical national security activities. did.
The report reveals that Mr. Austin transferred certain authority to the deputy commissioner for approximately 36 hours from December 22 to 23, 2023, but did not inform Mr. Austin of the reason for the transfer. It became.
Later, when Mr. Austin was hospitalized due to complications in January, Mr. Austin transferred certain powers to her, but there was “common understanding that these transfers legally meant Mr. Austin's powers were given to her.” It turned out that there was no understanding within the ministry or even among the deputy ministers. During these years, he served as Acting Secretary of Defense. ”
During his stay in the hospital from January 5th to 15th, he underwent three further medical procedures, two of which required him to be given “moderate sedation,” which rendered him physically and mentally incompetent for 24 hours after the procedure. It was found that he had been given written and verbal advice not to engage in activities that required him to be free of disability. , but did not transfer his authority to his deputy.
“We were also told that general anesthesia might be required.Despite this, Director Austin did not transfer authority, and the OIG did not provide any evidence that a transfer was being considered or that Director Austin was acting as deputy director or chief of staff. “We found no evidence that the procedure was communicated to them.”
“Finally, on February 11, Secretary Austin was unexpectedly hospitalized again due to serious complications. Despite the testimony, the OIG determined that the weight of the evidence supported that the transfer occurred several hours later, and the Director was readmitted to the hospital.”
As for whether Austin tried to hide his hospitalization when 9-1-1 dispatchers were instructed to send an ambulance but not use lights or sirens, the report said, “The OIG believes that the weight of the evidence is against Austin.'' “We assess that the evidence confirms that the director did these things.” request. ”
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