Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) demanded in a statement that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explain why he did not notify President Joe Biden and the National Security Council he was hospitalized for more than three days.
“Secretary Austin must address promptly the troubling report that the Department of Defense didn’t immediately notify President Biden or the National Security Council that he was hospitalized and unable to perform his duties,” he said in a statement.
“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 weightiest of decisions must be made in minutes. If this report is true, there must be consequences for this shocking breakdown.”
Cotton sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has Pentagon oversight.
File/Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Patrick Semansky, Pool/AP)
Cotton’s statement came after Politico reported Austin did not inform Biden about his hospitalization for three days, or the National Security Council.
Austin first disclosed his condition in a statement on Friday evening, when his spokesman sent out a statement that said:
On the evening of January 1, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for complications following a recent elective medical procedure. He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today. At all times, the Deputy Secretary of Defense was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required.
The Pentagon has not disclosed what the elective medical procedure was, or what the complications were.
According to Politico, Austin did not inform the NSC until Thursday, and members of Congress until 15 minutes before the public was notified.
NBC News reported Austin was in the intensive care unit for four days.
Amid the uproar from Pentagon press corps members, Austin sent out a conciliatory statement on Saturday that said:
I want to thank the amazing doctors and nursing staff at Walter Reed for the exceptional care they have delivered to me and for the personal warmth they have shown my family. I also appreciate all the outreach and well wishes from colleagues and friends. Charlene and I are very grateful for your support.
I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon.
I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better.
But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.
Biden ignored a shouted question to him on Saturday about Austin, according to Bloomberg.
As he left church in Greenville, Delaware, Biden didn’t answer a shouted question about SecDef Austin.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 6, 2024
According to NBC News, Biden had a “warm conversation” on Saturday with Austin.
“The President wished him the best in his recovery and said he looks forward to seeing the Secretary back at the Pentagon soon,” a senior administration official told the outlet.
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was reportedly on a pre-scheduled vacation in Puerto Rico during Austin’s hospitalization, but had assumed some of his duties.
Hicks “has maintained full communication with the DOD staff throughout,” an official told NBC News. “She has monitored DOD’s day-to-day operations and conducted some routine business.”
The Pentagon spokesman told NBC News that Austin “resumed his full duties” on Friday evening, but he remained in the hospital on Saturday.
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