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House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) on Tuesday launched a formal congressional investigation into Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization, demanding a “detailed account” of his stay and how he communicated his absence to Pentagon and Biden administration officials.
The Alabama Republican called Austin’s effort to conceal his Jan. 1 admittance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after complications related to a December surgery to treat prostate cancer “outrageous,” in letters to the 70-year-old defense secretary, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Austin’s Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen.
“With wars in Ukraine and Israel, the idea that the White House and even your own Deputy did not understand the nature of your condition is patently unacceptable,” Rogers scolds the defense secretary in his missive.
“Everything from on-going counterterrorism operations to nuclear command and control relies on a clear understanding of the Secretary’s decision-making capacity,” the lawmaker notes. “The Department is a robust institution, and it is designed to function under attack by our enemies, but it is not designed for a Secretary who conceals being incapacitated.”
Rogers demands that Austin, who remains hospitalized but is working from Walter Reed, detail “any medical sedation or general anesthesia” that occurred between Jan.1 and the time he resumed his duties and that he provide Congress with “an accounting of all official actions taken or approved” by him during his hospitalization.
The House Armed Services Committee chairman is also seeking “a detailed account” of Austin’s efforts to pass his responsibilities onto Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico at the time, and information on whether the deputy defense secretary “took any action” while she was filling in for the top Pentagon official.
In addition, Rogers requested all written communications concerning Austin’s “health, medical procedures, whereabouts, operational capability to lead the Department” made between the defense secretary and his staff while he was hospitalized and communications between the Pentagon and Biden administration officials during that time.
Austin underwent the initial prostatectomy on Dec. 22 and developed “severe abdominal, hip and leg pain” from a urinary tract infection late on New Year’s Day, his doctors announced Tuesday.
It wasn’t until Tuesday that the secretary notified President Biden, his subordinates and the public of his cancer diagnosis.
Magsamen announced Tuesday that the DoD’s director of administration and management would “immediately lead a review” of the incident and “evaluate the processes and procedures through which the deputy secretary of defense was notified that she should carry out” the retired general’s functions.
A Pentagon spokesman, however, blamed Magsamen for the delayed notification of Austin’s condition, saying Monday that the message was not sent because the chief of staff – who is responsible for such communications – was out sick with the flu at the time.
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