by It took the Pentagon three and a half days to inform the White House that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had been hospitalized on New Year’s Day following complications from an elective procedure, two U.S. officials said Saturday.
The extraordinary breach of protocol – Austin is in charge of the country’s 1.4 million active-duty military at a time when wars in Gaza and Ukraine have dominated the American national security landscape – has baffled officials across the country. government, including the Pentagon. .
Senior defense officials say Austin did not inform them until Thursday that he had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The Pentagon then informed the White House.
The Pentagon’s late notification, first reported by Politico, baffled White House officials, a Biden administration official said. A spokeswoman for the National Security Council declined to comment Saturday.
On Saturday night, Austin issued a mea culpa.
“I recognize that I could have done a better job ensuring the public was adequately informed,” he said in a statement. “I am committed to doing better.”
Mr Austin added: “This was my medical procedure and I take full responsibility for my decision on disclosure.”
President Biden and Austin spoke by phone Saturday night, a U.S. official said, adding that the president was glad to hear that Austin is recovering. Another official said the president has complete confidence in his defense secretary. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive situation.
It was Friday night when Austin’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, issued a statement to the media that the secretary had been hospitalized. General Ryder said patient privacy prevented him from giving more details about Mr. Austin’s medical problem.
In Friday’s statement, he said the 70-year-old defense secretary was “recovering well and looks forward to resuming all of his duties today.”
Austin was still in the hospital Saturday, a defense official said.
Pentagon officials had to call Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks while she was on vacation in Puerto Rico to handle matters while Austin was hospitalized, a Defense Department official said Saturday, confirming a NBC News report. The department said Friday that Ms. Hicks had temporarily assumed Mr. Austin’s duties. The secretary has delegated authority to her in the past, when she was on vacation and off the grid.
But just Thursday, while Austin was out of action, the United States launched a retaliatory strike in Baghdad that killed a militia leader who Pentagon officials said was responsible for recent attacks on American troops in the region.
A Biden administration official said the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, already had authorization for the strike.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a member of the Armed Services Committee, on Saturday demanded that Austin explain why he had not immediately informed the White House that he had been hospitalized and could not perform his duties.
“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 most important decisions must be made in minutes,” Cotton said in a statement. “If this report is true, this shocking collapse must have consequences.”
Criticism also grew in other sectors.
“The public has the right to know when members of the U.S. Cabinet are hospitalized, under anesthesia, or delegated duties as a result of any medical procedure,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement late Friday. “As the nation’s top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no right to privacy in this situation.”
Austin is notoriously private and has kept a low profile during his tenure as defense secretary. It has been more than a year since he appeared at the lectern in the Pentagon briefing room to address members of the media, and he is known to sometimes avoid journalists who travel with him abroad.
On these trips he prefers to dine alone in his hotel room when he does not have any commitment with a foreign counterpart.
In his statement Saturday, Austin said, “I am very glad to be recovering and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon.”
Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reports.
