Secrecy over Austin’s hospital stay puts White House on back foot
WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden’s administration pledged from day one to restore truth and transparency to the federal government — but now it’s facing a maelstrom of criticism and credibility questions after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization was kept secret for days, even from the White House.
The Pentagon disclosed on Tuesday afternoon, after days of silence on Austin’s medical diagnosis, that the secretary has prostate cancer. Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 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.
Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer during a routine screening in early December, but the White
House insisted that no one there, including Biden, knew about the diagnosis until Tuesday.
The cancer revelation came after days of persistent questions about Austin’s hospitalization and the delays in notifying key leaders. It raises more questions about the transparency and truthfulness of the Defense Department, which for the past four days said he was initially at Walter Reed for an “elective medical procedure”, and not prostate surgery.
The lack of transparency about Austin’s hospitalization — including the failure to tell Biden and other top officials about it or the reason for it for days — has triggered sharp criticism.
Austin spoke with Biden on Saturday, the same day he issued a public statement saying he recognized he could have done a better job ensuring the public was informed about his hospitalization, and said, “I commit to doing better.” He did not, however, tell the president in that phone call that he had cancer.
Several Republican lawmakers even said Austin should be ousted. Representative Mike Rogers launched a formal inquiry into the situation. And, earlier on Tuesday, the White House chief of staff ordered Cabinet members to notify his office if they ever can’t perform their duties.
The controversy has prompted a governmentwide review of what protocols are in place to prevent such failures and the Pentagon is scrutinizing its own procedures following the extraordinary lapse, which left even Austin’s top deputies unaware of his condition for days.
Senior congressional Republicans are probing whether Austin ignored legal requirements to inform Congress. Biden administration officials are privately fuming about Austin’s lack of disclosure, believing it to be an unforced error that undercuts the president’s message of restoring competency through his administration.
Cedric Leighton, a retired US Air Force colonel, noted the chain of command for the US military runs from the president through his defense secretary to the combatant commanders.
He 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.
Austin’s secrecy of hospital stay has put the White House on the defensive for days as the election year opens and has given ammunition to Biden’s political opponents who question whether his administration is living up to its pledges of competency.
Meanwhile, a panel of US appeals court judges expressed deep skepticism on Tuesday of Donald Trump’s claim that as a former president, he should be immune from prosecution on charges he conspired to overturn the 2020 election.
The 77-year-old Trump attended the appeals court hearing held under tight security in a Washington courthouse just blocks away from the US Capitol stormed by his supporters on Jan 6, 2021.
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s appeal of a ruling by Colorado’s highest court that would keep him off the presidential primary ballot in the state.