QUESTIONS REMAIN ABOUT ABSENCE
Officials still piecing together timeline of Austin’s condition
President Joe Biden retains confidence in Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, officials said Sunday, despite widespread surprise and consternation following the Pentagon chief’s failure to disclose a prolonged hospitalization to the White House or the public last week.
Officials have scrambled to piece together information about the episode that landed Austin, a former Army general, in intensive care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington on Jan. 1. The hospitalization was not made public until after 5 p.m. on Jan. 5, when a Pentagon spokesman announced that Austin, 70, had required care for a complication resulting from an elective medical procedure. Neither Austin nor the Pentagon has provided additional detail.
The dayslong silence, a departure from the disclosure that routinely occurs regarding the whereabouts and health conditions of the president and top Cabinet members, elicited bewilderment and frustration across the Biden administration and among leading members of Congress. Even top officials at the White House, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, were not informed of Austin’s hospitalization until late on Jan. 4.
Austin, who Pentagon officials said is recovering well, acknowledged the misstep in a statement released Saturday evening, saying he recognized that he “could have done a better job” keeping the public informed. “I commit
to doing better,” he said.
While it remained unclear Sunday when Austin would be released from Walter Reed, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Austin had been monitoring the U.S. military’s global activities and had received updates from his aides since resuming his duties on Friday evening.
A senior official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation, noted what he described as “an exceptionally close relationship” between Austin and Biden, whose son Beau served as
military lawyer under Austin when he was a top commander in Iraq.
“There’s a lot of trust there on both sides, and this episode has not diminished that trust one bit,” this person said. “The president is looking forward to the secretary’s continued service.”
A White House official said Biden had “full confidence” in Austin and was looking forward to him being back at the Pentagon.
But numerous questions remained about the incident a week into Austin’s hospitalization. White House officials declined to say what
Biden or his top aides, even now, knew about Austin’s current condition or the reason he was hospitalized.
The incident raised troubling questions about management of weighty military decisions at a moment when the United States is grappling with heightened tensions with Iranian-backed proxies in the Middle East. On Jan. 4, with Austin in the hospital, the U.S. military conducted a strike on a militant target in Baghdad. U.S. forces have also tangled in recent days with Houthi militants in the Red Sea.
It occurred on a week
when many officials were just returning from holiday leave, potentially adding to the confusion surrounding Austin’s hospitalization. Officials said that Austin, who typically attends an Oval Office security brief once a week when his and the president’s travel schedules allow, had participated on a national security call Jan. 1, the same day he was admitted to Walter Reed.
Biden himself, who had been on vacation in St. Croix, returned to the White House late the following night. Sullivan had joined him for the trip. Biden’s national security adviser informed him on Jan. 4, after being notified by the Pentagon, that Austin had been hospitalized, officials said.
Ryder said that the Pentagon had not been able to inform the White House of Austin’s hospitalization earlier because his chief of staff Kelly Magsamen, who ultimately made the notification, had been ill. Asked why someone else did not make the notification, Ryder said he had no information to provide.
While multiple officials expressed frustration that Austin had not been more forthcoming about his absence — one said the handling of the incident showed “unbelievably bad judgment” on Austin’s part — they attributed it chiefly to Austin’s intensely private nature and perhaps a misunderstanding of the need for disclosure his position demands.
“You want a defense chief who’s discreet, who’s not going to jam the president,” another senior official said. “But in rare cases like this one, where more transparency was warranted, it served him poorly.”
If Biden himself was frustrated or concerned, he took little noticeable action as a result. On the evening of Jan. 6, after news of Austin’s condition was made public, Biden spoke by phone with Austin in what officials described as a warm conversation and the president wished him well in his recovery.
The Pentagon’s handling of the episode drew immediate criticism from Republicans including Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who said it illustrated the administration’s contempt for Congress.