The sudden hospitalization of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week has sparked outrage because the Department of Defense failed to disclose the news despite Washington’s growing crisis in the Middle East. Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on January 1 due to complications from a previous medical procedure, but the Pentagon did not state it until the evening of January 6.
“Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the evening of January 1 for complications following a recent elective medical procedure,” Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder said, without going into detail about the nature or severity of the complications or the length of his stay. “He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties,” he said.
Although Mr Ryder stated that the US secretary’s deputy, Kathleen Hicks, was ready to take over “at all times,” a senior defense official told The Associated Press that she was unaware of the hospitalization until four days later.
Ms Hick, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico, then prepared statements for Congress and planned to return to Washington, according to the official. A Defense Department spokesperson told AFP that the deputy secretary made “routine decisions” on Mr. Austin’s behalf.
Three anonymous officials told The Associated Press that US President Joe Biden was also kept in the dark about the hospitalization until his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, informed him days later.
The Pentagon Press Association, a group of journalists who cover the defense department, expressed concern about the withholding of information, calling it “an outrage.” “The public has a right to know when US Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia, or when duties are delegated as a result of any medical procedure,” according to the letter sent by the association.