Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is on Capitol Hill Thursday for testimony in front of the House Armed Serves Committee. Under questioning from Republican lawmakers, Austin failed to thoroughly explain his secret absence and hospitalization back in January after undergoing surgery in December. Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which he also kept confidential.
"On January 2nd, while you were in the hospital, President Biden was vacationing in the Caribbean. Your Deputy, who the president didn’t even know had operational control of our military, was on a beach in Puerto Rico—what kind of message does that send our adversaries?” Republican Congressman Jim Banks asked.
.@repjimbanks: "Either the president is that aloof or you are irrelevant. Which one is it?@SecDef Austin: "It's neither. The president is not aloof and I participate in all of the critical decision making." pic.twitter.com/kD8B406kar
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 29, 2024
1 year ago SecDef told me had “no regrets” for Afghanistan catastrophe that killed 13 Americans. No one was fired.
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) February 29, 2024
Today he says no one will be fired for SecDef going AWOL w/out telling White House
RESIGN! pic.twitter.com/PyS8YLDFgF
After the secret stay was exposed, it was revealed President Joe Biden was not informed the Defense Secretary was hospitalized -- not to mention in the intensive care unit. During Austin's stay, dozens of Iranian backed attacks were launched against U.S. troops in the Middle East.
Last week the Pentagon released a review with new protocols for reporting principal absence. In typical fashion, the report holds nobody accountable for the easily preventable debacle and argues Austin was understaffed.