It took the Pentagon three and a half days to notify the White House that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had been hospitalized on New Year’s Day following complications from an elective procedure, two U.S. officials said Saturday.
The extraordinary breach of protocol – Austin is in charge of 1.4 million active-duty military personnel at a time when wars in Gaza and Ukraine have dominated America’s national security landscape – has rattled officials across the government, including the Pentagon. .
Senior defense officials say Mr. Austin did not inform them until Thursday that he had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The Pentagon then notified the White House.
The late Pentagon notification first reported by Politico, have confused White House officials, a Biden administration official said. A National Security Council supporter declined to comment Saturday.
On Saturday evening, Mr. Austin issued a mea culpa.
“I recognize that I could have done a better job ensuring the public was adequately informed,” he said in a statement. “I am committed to doing better.”
Mr Austin added: “This was my medical procedure and I take full responsibility for my decision regarding disclosure.”
President Biden and Mr Austin spoke by phone on Saturday evening, a US official said, adding that the president was happy to hear that Mr Austin was recovering. Another official said the president has full confidence in his defense secretary. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive situation.
It was late Friday night when Mr. Austin’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, released a statement to the media that the secretary had been hospitalized. General Ryder said patient privacy prevented him from delving into Mr. Austin’s medical problem.
In Friday’s statement, he said the defense secretary, who is 70, “is recovering well and expects to resume full duties today.”
Mr. Austin was still in hospital on Saturday, a defense official said.
Pentagon officials had to call Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks while she was on vacation in Puerto Rico to handle affairs while Mr. Austin was hospitalized, a Defense Department official said Saturday, confirming a NBC News report. The department said on Friday that Ms. Hicks had temporarily taken over Mr. Austin’s duties. The secretary delegated authority to her in the past, when she was on vacation and off the grid.
But just Thursday, while Austin was out of action, the United States launched a retaliatory strike in Baghdad that killed a militia leader who Pentagon officials said was responsible for recent attacks on American troops in the region.
A Biden administration official said the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, already had authorization for the attack.
Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and a member of the Armed Services Committee, asked Mr. Austin on Saturday to explain why he had not immediately informed the White House that he had been hospitalized and was unable to perform his duties .
“The secretary of Defense is the key link in the chain of command between the president and the uniformed military, including the nuclear chain of command, when major decisions must be made within minutes,” Cotton said in a statement . “If this report is true, there must be consequences for this shocking collapse.”
Criticism was also growing in other environments.
“The public has the right to know when U.S. Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia, or when duties are delegated following any medical procedure,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement Friday evening. “As the nation’s top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no right to privacy in this situation.”
Mr. Austin is notoriously secretive and has kept a low profile during his time as defense secretary. It has been more than a year since he appeared as a speaker in the Pentagon briefing room to address members of the news media, and he is known to sometimes avoid journalists who travel with him abroad.
On these trips he prefers to dine alone in his hotel room when he has no commitments with a foreign counterpart.
In his statement on Saturday, Mr. Austin said: “I am very happy to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon.”
Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed to the reporting.
