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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's secret hospitalization has raised several questions after senior U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, were kept in the dark for days about the condition of the country's most senior defense official.
Austin was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on January 1, Pentagon press secretary, Major General Pat Ryder, said on Friday. He suffered "complications following a recent elective medical procedure," Ryder said in a brief statement.
A U.S. official told Reuters that the president was informed on Thursday evening, several days after Austin was admitted to hospital. A Biden administration official told CBS News that National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the White House's National Security Council were told on Thursday morning.
The days of secrecy raised pressing questions about the severity of the defense secretary's illness, why other government officials were not informed and what contingency plans were in place during Austin's stint in hospital.
The lack of disclosure with other high-ranking officials goes against established practice, and comes at a time of heightened international tensions and demands on the U.S. Defense Department.
The Pentagon did not make Austin's absence public due to medical and privacy considerations, the Defense Department said on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
The Pentagon Press Association, an organization representing members of the media involved in U.S. Defense Department coverage, described the delay in disclosing the Defense Secretary's hospitalization as an "outrage."
"At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader," the association said in a letter to top Pentagon officials.
"The Department of Defense deliberately withheld the secretary of defense's medical condition for days. That is unacceptable," said Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We are learning more every hour about the department's shocking defiance of the law."
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said there "must be consequences for this shocking breakdown," adding in a statement that Austin 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."
Biden is the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, followed by Austin as defense secretary.
Austin said on Saturday that he took "full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure," adding: "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," he added in a statement. "I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon."
The Pentagon said Deputy Defense Secretary, Kathleen Hicks, was prepared to stand in for Austin "at all times."
Hicks was on vacation in Puerto Rico during Austin's illness. She had arrived on the island ahead of Austin's hospitalization and "periodically assumed" his duties in the days since, CNN reported, citing two US officials.
A Defense Department spokesperson told Newsweek on Sunday that Austin was still in the hospital, but was "recovering well" and resumed his full duties. The spokesperson declined to provide any updates about when Austin would be discharged from the hospital.
The U.S. is at the helm of ongoing Western military support for Ukraine, and is leading international efforts to protect commercial shipping passages through the Red Sea after a series of attacks on vessels by Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
The U.S. has also pledged its support to Israel as it fights Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. forces stationed in Iraq and Syria have also come under repeated attack in recent months, and on January 4, the U.S. military carried out a "self-defense" strike in Iraq.
The strike killed Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, who was a "leader of the Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba terrorist group" and "was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel," the Pentagon said.
Update 01/07/2023 9:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a response from the Pentagon.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more