US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Saturday accepted responsibility for failing to disclose a recent hospitalization, following reports that even top White House officials and US President Joe Biden were in the dark that he was ill and unable to carry out his duties.
The Pentagon waited until Friday evening to announce that Austin, 70, had been hospitalized four days prior “for complications following a recent elective medical procedure” — a breach of standard protocol at a time when the US is embroiled in the Middle East crisis.
NBC News reported Austin was in an intensive care unit for four days.
Photo: AFP
He remained at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Saturday and a discharge date was not yet known, a US Department of Defense spokesperson said.
“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” Austin said in a statement. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
He added that he would be “returning to the Pentagon soon.”
Austin resumed “full duties” on Friday evening, the spokesperson said.
Austin’s hospitalization comes with tensions soaring in the Middle East, as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, with Iran-backed forces in Yemen striking shipping lanes while others in Iraq and Syria are attacking US troops with rockets and drones.
US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was prepared to step in during Austin’s illness and made some routine decisions on his behalf during the time, a Department of Defense spokesperson said.
Politico was the first of several media outlets to report that Austin had been in the hospital for three days before Pentagon officials told US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and other top White House officials.
Sullivan then informed Biden, the outlet said.
It also reported that the US Congress found out about Austin’s hospitalization 15 minutes before Friday evening’s statement.
A White House official on Saturday did not discuss the timing of when Biden was informed of Austin’s absence but said the two men “spoke this evening and it was a warm conversation.”
“The President has full confidence in Secretary Austin. He’s looking forward to him being back at the Pentagon,” the official said.
US Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, demanded an explanation.
“The Secretary of Defense is the key link in the chain of command between the president and the uniformed military, including the nuclear chain of command, when the weightiest of decisions must be made in minutes. If this report is true, there must be consequences for this shocking breakdown,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
The Pentagon Press Association, comprised of journalists who cover the US Department of Defense, expressed “significant concerns” over the apparent cover-up.
“The public has a right to know when US Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia or when duties are delegated as a result of any medical procedure,” the group said in a letter to the Pentagon press secretary.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS