Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are calling for an investigation into how the White House spent days unaware that defence secretary Lloyd Austin was in hospital at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, following what the Pentagon has described as an elective medical procedure.
On Monday, representatives Mike Rogers and Adam Smith – the Alabama Republican and Washington Democrat who serve as chair and ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee – issued a rare joint statement calling for a probe into how Mr Austin, a retired four-star US Army general, all but disappeared for a week without anyone in the White House being any the wiser.
“Several questions remain unanswered including what the medical procedure and resulting complications were, what the Secretary’s current health status is, how and when the delegation of the Secretary’s responsibilities were made, and the reason for the delay in notification to the president and Congress,” they said. “Transparency is vitally important – secretary Austin must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible”.
Some Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, have called for Mr Austin to be sacked or step down, but President Joe Biden has expressed confidence in his top defence official and it’s unlikely that he will resign his post.
Here is what we know about the situation:
Mr Austin had elective surgery in late December
According to the defence department, the Pentagon boss underwent an unspecified surgical procedure on 22 December and subsequently returned home after being discharged from hospital the next day.
But on 1 January, the 70-year-old retired soldier was rushed by ambulance from his home to Walter Reed, which until 2011 was known as the National Naval Medical Centre, after he reported suffering from what the Pentagon press secretary, Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, described in a statement as “severe pain”.
Gen Ryder said that Mr Austin spent the next several days in the hospital’s intensive care unit, in part “due to hospital space considerations and privacy”.
Top Pentagon aides knew of Mr Austin’s hospitalisation early on
According to Gen Ryder, senior aides to Mr Austin – including Gen Ryder himself – were briefed on his admission to hospital the day after he was admitted, Tuesday 2 January.
The Air Force officer told reporters at Monday’s Pentagon press briefing that he took responsibility for failing to communicate what had transpired.
“I recognise that I should have tried to learn more and to press for an earlier public acknowledgment. So I offer my apologies and my pledge to learn from this experience,” he said.
Austin transferred some of his authority to his top deputy on 2 January
Gen Ryder said that Mr Austin was accompanied to Walter Reed by members of his personal security team when he travelled to Walter Reed on 1 January. He also told reporters that the defence secretary formally transferred some of his authorities to deputy defence secretary Kathleen Hicks on 2 January “due to the secretary’s condition and on the basis of medical advice”.
That same day, Ms Hicks and her staff, as well as Mr Austin’s staff and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were notified of the transfer “through regular email notification procedures”.
Ms Hicks wasn’t told why Mr Austin transferred his authority to her
According to the Pentagon spokesperson, Ms Hicks wasn’t told that Mr Austin had been hospitalised, only that she was being delegated some of his powers.
Such a move isn’t unusual or uncommon, and General Ryder told reporters that the deputy defence secretary made “routine operational and management decisions for the department over this period and was fully authorised and ready to support the president on other military matters should the need have arisen”.
The White House didn’t learn about Mr Austin’s location for four days
Although the White House Situation Room conducts daily check-ins with cabinet departments to keep tabs on cabinet secretaries’ locations, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday that the tracking is relatively rudimentary and limited to what city a given official is in at any given time.
The White House said President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, did not learn of Mr Austin’s hospitalisation until Thursday, which is also when Ms Hicks learned that Mr Austin was at Walter Reed.
