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.
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