US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, after days of silence on his condition, news that was even kept from the White House.
Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat the disease, but developed a urinary tract infection a week later and was admitted into intensive care, the Pentagon said.
He remained hospitalized on Tuesday, with US President Joe Biden’s administration finding out the same day, prompting a government-wide review of what protocols are in place to prevent such failures.
Photo: AFP
The Pentagon is scrutinizing its own procedures following the lapse, which left even Austin’s top deputies unaware of his condition for days.
Senior US lawmakers are investigating whether Austin ignored legal requirements to inform the US Congress.
Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer during a routine screening early last month, but the White House insisted that no one there, including Biden, knew about the diagnosis until Tuesday.
“I think we all recognize — and I think the Pentagon has been very, very honest with themselves — about the challenge to credibility by what has transpired here, and by how hard it was for them to be fully transparent with the American people,” US National Security Council [NSC] spokesman John Kirby said. “We all recognize that this didn’t unfold the way it should have — on so many levels.”
There is no government-wide policy in the Biden administration on how absences of Cabinet officials should be handled, although there is a general expectation that the White House should be made aware of such circumstances, people familiar with the matter said.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss government practices.
While there is no statutory requirement for public officials in the US to disclose their medical histories, it has become common practice for presidential and vice presidential candidates and incumbents to do so.
Multiple current and former officials said that administrations generally aim to keep close tabs on the whereabouts of the secretaries of state and defense due to their prominent positions in the line of presidential succession, and particularly in the case of the Pentagon.
Cedric Leighton, a retired US Air Force colonel, said that the chain of command for the US military runs from the president through his defense secretary to the combatant commanders, who then execute orders that could include command and control of any potential use of nuclear weapons.
Leighton said it was “imperative” that the president, top administration and military officials, select members of Congress and even key allied counterparts be notified of even a temporary absence.
“It’s highly unusual for any Cabinet secretary not to notify the president, the White House chief of staff, or the NSC of any absence, especially a medical one,” he said.
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