DEFENSE CHIEF’S ILLNESS PROMPTS PENTAGON REVIEW

Inspector general to probe apparent breach of protocol

The Defense Department inspector general said Thursday it will investigate the mishandling of Lloyd Austin’s recent hospitalization, which the Pentagon chief and others close to him kept secret from the White House and Congress for days in an apparent breach of protocol after he developed serious complications from prostate cancer surgery.

In a memo addressed to Austin, Deputy Defense Secretary

Kathleen Hicks and other officials, Inspector General Robert Storch said his staff would begin its work this month. He indicated that while the inquiry will be focused on the Office of the Secretary of Defense, its scope could broaden.

Thursday’s announcement underscored the furor in Washington arising from Austin’s health crisis. Allies and adversaries alike have questioned his judgment in choosing to keep President Joe Biden and other leaders in the dark about the extent of the secretary’s illness, while critics both inside and outside of the administration have assailed the Pentagon, where an extensive breakdown occurred after key figures had learned of his hospitalization but elected to sit on the information.

Already, the Republicanled House Armed Services Committee has signaled its intent to investigate the matter as well, raising the specter of unflattering public congressional hearings this year as Biden seeks re-election. The panel’s chair, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, has said the administration’s “inexcusable” lack of transparency could have resulted in “calamity.” Multiple GOP lawmakers and at least one Democrat have called for Austin’s resignation.

The inspector general’s aim, Storch wrote, “is to examine the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions” surrounding Austin’s December surgery to treat his cancer, which went undisclosed until this week, and his subsequent hospitalization dating to Jan. 1. The investigation will seek to determine whether the department’s “policies and procedures are sufficient to ensure timely and appropriate notifications” whenever senior leaders must delegate their responsibilities, whether for medical matters or any other reason, he explained.

The independent review will be conducted in addition to a 30-day assessment directed by Austin’s office and a parallel review ordered by the White House.

A Pentagon spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, acknowledged the new review Thursday morning and said defense officials would address the issue more fully soon.

Storch said in his memo that his team will perform its work and “may identify additional offices and personnel who might have information relevant to our review.”

Austin, a 70-year-old retired Army general, was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 and placed in intensive care after suffering complications from surgery on Dec. 22 to remove his prostate, Pentagon officials disclosed this week. But the secretary’s health crisis was not disclosed to some senior aides until Jan. 2. The White House did not learn of it until Jan. 4.

The Pentagon disclosed the hospitalization to Congress and the American public a day later, and waited until Tuesday to disclose his cancer diagnosis and what led to his hospitalization — a urinary tract infection, a backup of his small intestines, and the collection of fluid in his abdomen — more than a week after Austin arrived at Walter Reed.