Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called to testify before Congress about secretive hospitalization

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been called to testify before congressional lawmakers to clarify his secretive hospitalization earlier this month. 

Austin and the Pentagon have come below heavy scrutiny for not being extra clear about the secretary’s hospitalization and communication gaps that left senior officers and the White House unaware of his situation or whereabouts for a number of days. 

In a letter dated Thursday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, mentioned he spoke with Austin after information broke that he had been hospitalized for problems from an elective surgical procedure. 

DEFENSE SEC. LLOYD AUSTIN IN ‘GOOD CONDITION’ AS HOSPITALIZATION APPROACHES TWO-WEEK MARK: PENTAGON OFFICIALS

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appears on throughout a joint press convention with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at Israel’s Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 18, 2023. Austin has come below hearth for his secret hospitalization earlier this month.  (Reuters/Violeta Santos Moura)

“While you did respond to some of my questions I had for you, a concerning number of questions were not addressed,” Rogers wrote. “Specifically, I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the President of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalization.”

“Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress,” he added.

Austin’s workplace mentioned the Department of Defense offered the House Armed Services Committee three letters in a “good-faith effort” to reply to the panel whereas “recognizing that there is an internal 30-day review underway, and the DOD Inspector General is conducting his own review.”

“The Department looks forward to continuing to work with the Committee to accommodate its legislative needs,” the company mentioned in a press release to Fox News Digital. “As always, we will respond to congressional requests as appropriate, to include requests for the Secretary to testify. We have nothing further to provide at this time.”

DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN DIAGNOSED WITH PROSTATE CANCER

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., speaks throughout a gathering of the House Committee on Rules on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 12, 2022. The committee met to talk about the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023, Women’s Health Protection Act, Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, and the Active Shooter Alert Act. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)

The name to testify got here after stories that Austin’s aide requested first responders to stay “subtle” and never use sirens or lights throughout whereas transporting him from his residence on New Year’s Day to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in accordance to a 911 name. 

Austin returned to work in a digital capability on Jan. 5 whereas nonetheless hospitalized, even authorizing airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. He was launched Monday. Despite being admitted to Walter Reed upon Jan.1, the Pentagon did not inform the general public, press or Congress till Jan. 5. 

Officials additionally acknowledged that the White House had not been knowledgeable about Austin’s hospitalization till Jan. 4. 

In addition to being summoned to Capitol Hill, the Pentagon is conducting an inside overview into the communication lapse. 

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“This is a time of immense global instability. Our country deserves reliable leadership at the department,” Rogers wrote. “Maintaining the most ready and lethal force possible requires that everyone in the national security community be able to rely upon the secretary of defense’s availability and transparency.”

“Regrettably, you have not exhibited these attributes throughout this most recent string of events,” he added.