What the hell is going on with Lloyd Austin?
An explainer.
Normally, I don’t devote a ton of time in this space to what’s happening with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
But this is a not a normal moment.
Let’s start with what we know.
On December 22, Austin was hospitalized for some sort of elective surgical procedure. (We still don’t know what it was.)
Ten days later, on January 1, Austin was brought to Walter Reed Medical Center because he was in “quite a bit of pain,” according to a Pentagon spokesman.
On January 2, Austin transferred some of his responsibilities to Deputy Secretary of State Kathleen Hicks. Hicks was in Puerto Rico at the time on vacation. Incredibly, she was not told until two days after the transfer of authority that Austin was in the hospital.
And she was far from the only one kept in the dark. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was also not informed about the Austin situation — he was in intensive care for days! — until January 4. Sullivan told President Biden that day. Congress was informed on Friday.
The Pentagon’s explanation for all of this? Austin’s chief of staff was sick with the flu. Yes, really! (The other explanation I have heard is that Austin is a private man — and didn’t want the details of his medical life in public. Which I get! If you are a private citizen! But you don’t get to make that call when you are the highest ranking defense official in the U.S. government! You just don’t!)
Austin himself hasn’t said much. He released a statement Saturday that said, in part:
“I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. 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. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
Biden and Austin talked on Saturday as well. And on Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that there are “no plans or anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continue in the leadership that he’s been demonstrating.”
That may not entirely be in Biden’s hands, however. The mystery surrounding Austin’s medical condition has caused a rare bit of bipartisanship to break out on Capitol Hill.
In a joint statement, the top ranking Republican (Mike Rogers of Alabama) and Democrat (Adam Smith of Washington) on the House Armed Services Committee blasted Austin and the Pentagon for their handling of the matter.
“Several questions remain unanswered including what the medical procedure and resulting complications were, what the secretary’s current health status is, how and when the delegation of the secretary’s responsibilities were made, and the reason for the delay in notification to the president and Congress. Transparency is vitally important…Austin must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible.”
Other Republicans — most notably former President Donald Trump — have gone further, calling on Austin to resign or be fired.
Which, of course. (Sources within the Biden administration have said they there is no way that Austin will be fired. Yet…)
But, seeing this through a partisan lens — to my mind — sort of misses the point.
What happened here is that the country’s top defense official was in the ICU for days before any other senior member of the Biden administration knew about it. That’s a serious problem at ANY time but especially when there are not one but two active wars happening — and in which the U.S. is playing more than just a tangential role.
The Pentagon, seeking to defuse some of the heat around the issue, has undertaken a 30 day examination of what went wrong. But, 30 days is WAY too long to wait for answers when we are talking about a mistake (under the best reading of what happened) like this.
And remember that, to date, the entirety of the explanation for why this all happened was that someone had the flu. Really? The chain of command in our military apparatus is dependent on someone having the flu? That’s not reassuring!
Here’s an (incomplete) list of things that need to be answered, like, today.
What was the elective surgical procedure that Austin was initially hospitalized for?
What went wrong on January 1 that required him to be brought back to the hospital?
What, specifically, led to him being admitted to the ICU?
When will Austin leave the hospital?
Why did his chief of staff not send an email or make a phone call or do SOMETHING while she was sick to make sure that the White House knew about Austin’s condition?
Is there NO ONE else in the Department of Defense who could have told the White House about Austin’s condition?
Why was the deputy Secretary of Defense not told of Austin’s condition when some of his authorities were transferred to her?
It is absolutely remarkable to me that even as this thing has blown up into a national story over the past 72 hours, the Pentagon — and Austin in particular — remain totally silent about even the most basic elements of his situation.
This is the Secretary of Defense we are talking about! Come on, people!
Does Austin keep his job? I honestly think that is an open question — especially given the continued lack of transparency from him (and the Pentagon).
Biden is famously loyal to those close to him. But, the president is also a politician running for a second term in an election year. If Austin continues to be a distraction, don’t be stunned if he is gone.
My feeling is that his actual medical condition is not our business. He has a HIPPA right just like anyone else. The bottom line, for me, is that if you are not going to be at work, you tell your boss. Period, full stop. If I had done that when I was in the hospital, I'd have been in a lot of trouble. PS - Trump!!! Who never disclosed ANYTHING he was not forced to????
Probably this just underlines your basic point about the lack of info, but I don't believe he was "hospitalized" on the Friday before Christmas. From what I've read, he went in for an elective procedure that day on an outpatient basis and went home. [Never mind, he stayed over one night, as planned -- so he was hospitalized.] Then indeed, a week and a half later, on New Years Day, he had to be hospitalized, due to one of those complications that can come from any operation and are listed on all that paperwork you get before even the simplest procedure.
Aside from that -- the fact that this wasn't shared is an embarrassing, stupid mistake, but beyond acknowledging it, taking responsibility in writing, and committing to making actual changes so that it never happens again, I'm not sure what else he could or should do. The fact that the procedure was whatever it was just feels intrusive and irrelevant (the communications error would be the same regardless of the underlying procedure) and those details might reveal more about his private life and health than should be revealed, whether to the public or to our adversaries.