The White House has said that the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, will stay in his job but noted his “lack of transparency” and called for a review of procedures after he spent three days in hospital without informing the president.
The White House spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, also said that Austin retained Biden’s confidence, and John Kirby, the national security council (NSC) spokesperson, told reporters on Air Force One: “There is no plan for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job.”
Kirby said Joe Biden “respects the fact that Secretary Austin took ownership for the lack of transparency” but added there would be a review of procedures in the wake of the incident, “to try to learn from this experience”. He added there was an “expectation” that if a cabinet member was hospitalized, “that will be notified up the chain of command”.
Austin remained in hospital on Monday, according to the Pentagon, but was moved out of intensive care and was said to be “recovering well. It was also revealed that the defence secretary first went to hospital on 22 December for an unspecified medical procedure, returning home the following day. He was then taken to the Walter Reed national military medical center in Washington on Monday 1 January, experiencing “severe pain” after taking part in NSC discussions that morning on a strike against an Iranian-backed militia leader in Iraq.
On Tuesday, Austin transferred some “operational responsibilities” to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, who was on holiday in Puerto Rico at the time. Hicks was not informed on the reason that she was being asked to take on those duties, although the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Charles Brown, was told, according to Pentagon officials.
Hicks stayed in Puerto Rico, using secure communication equipment to carry out her duties, and only found out Austin was in hospital on Thursday. On the same day, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was told and Biden was notified. It was not until Friday that Austin informed Congress and issued a public statement.
The Pentagon has suggested the delay in disclosing his whereabouts was at least partially due to Austin’s chief of staff being off sick. Austin said in a statement on Saturday that he took “full responsibility” for the secrecy surrounding his hospital stay. No details have been released about his medical condition.
The US defense secretary is supposed to be instantly available in the event of a national security crisis.
“We’ll do what’s akin to a hot wash and try to see if processes and procedures need to be changed at all or modified so that we can learn from this,” said John Kirby, the national security council spokesman
