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Former President Donald Trump said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired “immediately” for not alerting the White House, Congress or the press that he had been hospitalized for several days last week.
Mr. Austin had been hospitalized since last Monday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications from a previous elective surgery, the Pentagon revealed Friday. Even President Biden was not informed about the secretary’s hospital stay for days. He returned to work Friday from the hospital.
“Failed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty,” Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, posted on Truth Social Sunday evening. “He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was, or might be.”
In a statement released Saturday, Mr. Lloyd said he was happy to be “on the mend [and] returning to the Pentagon soon.”
But the low-profile defense secretary also acknowledged that he should have been more transparent about his situation.
“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” he said. “But this is important to say: This was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
It is unclear what medical procedure or complications kept Mr. Austin in the hospital, but his decision to keep where he was private was criticized by lawmakers.
Sen. Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that Mr. Austin should “address promptly” why he didn’t immediately tell Mr. Biden or the National Security Council of his hospitalization.
“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 the weightiest of decisions must be made in minutes,” the Arkansas Republican said. “If this report is true, there must be consequences for this shocking breakdown.”
Reps. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican, and Adam Smith, Washington Democrat, the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote in a joint statement that they were “concerned with how the disclosure” of his condition was handled.
“Transparency is vitally important. Sec. Austin must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible,” they said.
The Pentagon press association also lodged a complaint over how the issue was handled.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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