Nine days after first being admitted to the hospital under a shroud of secrecy, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin remains bedridden at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
The Department of Defense issued a statement on Monday evening, detailing some of the course of events that led to the Pentagon not revealing to the president or American people that the secretary was in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Austin and the Biden Administration have been criticized for their lack of transparency, considering the unstable state of the world and ongoing conflicts that the United States is involved in, particularly in the Middle East.
“Since resuming duties on Friday evening, the secretary has received operational updates and has provided necessary guidance,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday evening. “He has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor [Defense Department] day-to-day operations worldwide.”
Austin had some undisclosed elective surgery on Dec. 22. He spent the night at Walter Reed and was discharged on Saturday, Dec. 23. The press secretary said that Lloyd worked from home through the holidays. But he experienced severe pain and was admitted to Walter Reed’s intensive care unit on Jan. 1.
At some point between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke with Austin, but the health situation was not revealed to him.
Austin was conscious but in quite a bit of pain, Ryder said, who added he assumed Austin was administered some sort of pain medication and did not know if at any time Austin was unconscious.
On Jan. 2, Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was informed that Austin had been hospitalized the night before.
Austin underwent testing and evaluation while in the ICU, and on Jan. 2, “certain authorities” were transferred to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks “due to the secretary’s condition, and on the basis of medical advice,” Ryder said. Hick was not told that she was the top authority at the Pentagon.
Members of Austin’s and Hicks’ staff were notified that the transfer of authority had occurred through normal email notification procedures, Ryder said. However, no one outside his inner circle was told that he was in intensive care. Neither the president nor Hicks were informed of the gravity of his medical condition.
On Thursday, Jan. 4, at 4 a.m., the U.S. Air Force conducts an air strike in Bagdad, Iraq, killing one of the leaders of an Iraqi military group. The Pentagon later said the strike was approved by Austin before he was hospitalized. Ryder held a scheduled press conference on Jan. 4, but did not tell reporters that the secretary was hospitalized.
On Jan. 4, Austin’s chief of staff notified Hicks and the White House National Security Advisor of the secretary’s hospitalization and ICU stay. Ryder has since said that Austin’s chief of staff had been sick with the flu, which caused the delay in notification of Hicks and the president.
Once notified of the hospitalization, Hicks “immediately engaged on drafting a public statement and congressional outreach,” alongside Austin’s chief of staff, Ryder said. Hicks was in Puerto Rico vacationing at the time and the president was in the Bahamas.
On the afternoon of Jan. 5, just 15 minutes before the press corps was notified, congressional members were told of the hospitalization, but few details were provided.
That announcement did not disclose his stay in intensive care or that the White House hadn’t been informed for three days that he was in the hospital.
Ryder said the Defense Department is currently reviewing how it can improve its notification procedures, to include White House and congressional notifications.
“I want to underscore that Secretary Austin has taken responsibility for the issues with transparency, and the department will be taking steps to improve our notification procedures,” Ryder told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday. “I’m also personally committed to keeping you informed.”
“Nothing is more important to the secretary of Defense and the department than the trust and confidence of the American public we serve, and we will continue to work hard every day to earn and deserve that trust,” he said.
While acting as the secretary, Hicks made routine operational and management decisions for the department “and was fully authorized and ready to support the president on other military matters should the need have arisen,” Ryder said. But his statement is contradicted by the fact that she did not know she was the top person in command.
Austin resumed his full duties as secretary on Friday night.
White House spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden looks forward to having him back on the job.
“There is no plan for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job,” Kirby said to members of the press.
Tuesday, Jan. 9 marks the ninth day Austin, age 70, has been continuously hospitalized. Although he is not in the ICU, he is in a private area of Walter Reed, where he is said to be working from his bed. The nature of his illness has still been kept a secret.
Austin has been hospitalized for 10 out of the last 20 days, since his initial admission to the hospital on Dec. 21. According to the National Institutes of Health, the average stay in American hospitals is 5-1/2 days. Extended hospital stays can lead to infections and other health complications.
