Austin failed to tell Congress or the White House about his health problems as required, report says
WASHINGTON — Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin failed to notify Congress or the White House as required when he was incapacitated due to treatment for prostate cancer or when complications worsened his condition last year, the Pentagon watchdog concluded in a highly critical report released Wednesday.
The inspector general’s report blames Austin for the communications blackout he found himself in early last year his hospitalization secret for dayseven from President Joe Biden. The inspector general concluded that his strong desire for privacy likely influenced his staff’s decision not to probe further into his condition.
In one example, he instructed his staff that if anyone had any questions, “you are more than welcome to ask them directly to me” — which would likely make further investigation chilling, the report said.
Austin failed to inform Congress and the White House of his initial treatment in December 2023 for prostate cancer and failed to inform his staff or the White House of his worsening complications on January 1, 2024, causing him to be taken by ambulance to Walter Reed was brought. Army National Military Medical Center.
“No one on Secretary Austin’s staff knew the severity of his condition, even when his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) the next day,” the report said.
The report, signed by Inspector General Robert Storch, comes just four days before Austin leaves his job and President-elect Donald Trump takes office. It offers new details about the communications between Austin and his staffers, but no real bombshells about the stunning turn of events.
The findings echo many of the criticisms from an internal review conducted about a month after Austin was admitted to Walter Reed. That internal review, conducted by Austin’s subordinates, largely cleared everyone of wrongdoing due to the secrecy surrounding his hospitalization. And it said plainly that there was “no indication of malicious intent or an attempt to cover it up.”
Although he delegated decision-making powers to the Assistant Secretary Kathleen Hicks during his first surgery and then again when he was in intensive care didn’t tell her why and he has not informed the White House.
The incident angered the White House and infuriated members of Congress, who called him to Capitol Hill for a hearing, where he faced bipartisan criticism and demanded that someone should have been held accountable.
Austin himself took much of the blame during a lengthy press conference after returning to work. He told reporters he never told his staff to keep his surgery and hospitalization a secret from the White House, but acknowledged that he should have handled things differently and apologized for keeping Biden and others in the dark.
Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early December 2023 and went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for surgery on December 22. On January 1, 2024, he was returned to Walter Reed by ambulance after experiencing significant pain and was transferred to the intensive care unit the next day.
Pentagon officials have acknowledged that public affairs and defense officials were told on Jan. 2 that Austin had been hospitalized, but did not make it public and did not tell military service leaders or the National Security Council until Jan. 4. Only then did Biden find out. It took another four days before the reason for his hospitalization was announced.
The internal review attributed privacy restrictions and staff hesitancy to their inability to quickly notify the president and other senior leaders of Austin’s hospitalization. And it called for a number of procedural changes to improve communication and prevent similar problems in the future.
The changes include better guidelines for the transfer of authority and better reporting requirements during those incidents. And the White House has done just that changes in federal guidelines as a result of the incident.