House panel demands Secretary of Defense Austin appear to explain hospitalization secrecy scandal
WASHINGTON — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers has demanded that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin come before Congress next month to explain his highly secretive hospitalization earlier this month.
For three days, Austin kept the Pentagon and White House in the dark about his condition following complications from a prostatectomy, drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats.
In a Thursday letter, Rogers (R-Ala.) said he spoke with Austin after the scandal broke and noted that the Pentagon chief “promised full transparency into questions regarding the secrecy of your recent hospitalization.”
“While you did respond to some of my questions I had for you, a concerning number of questions were not addressed,” the lawmaker added. “Specifically, I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the President of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalization.”
“Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress,” he added.
The accusation comes after a recording of the 911 call requesting an ambulance to Austin’s Virginia home on the evening of Jan. 1, released via a Freedom of Information Act request earlier this week, revealed the secretary intended to keep his health emergency quiet from the beginning.
“Can I ask — can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens?” a staffer told a dispatcher in the recording, first obtained by the Daily Beast, adding: “Um, we’re trying to remain a little subtle.”
So “subtle” were they that Austin did not even tell his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, of his hospitalization when he transferred his secretarial authority to her from the hospital. It was not until Jan. 4 — three days after she took over his duties — that Hicks, the White House and the rest of the Pentagon learned why he’d done so.
Austin returned to work virtually from Walter Reed on Jan. 5, advising the president on crucial defense matters — including an airstrike on Houthi terrorists in Yemen — from his hospital bed. He was not released until Monday, and is working from home until he has recuperated enough to return to the Pentagon.
“This is a time of immense global instability. Our country deserves reliable leadership at the department,” Rogers wrote. “Maintaining the most ready and lethal force possible requires that everyone in the national security community be able to rely upon the secretary of defense’s availability and transparency.”
“Regrettably, you have not exhibited these attributes throughout this most recent string of events,” he added.
While Austin has long been a deeply private man, lawmakers have said he gave up his right to secrecy about his health when he accepted a cabinet position.
“Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary,” Rogers wrote Austin in the letter. “Your unwillingness to provide candid and complete answers necessitates called a full committee hearing on February 14, 2024.”
Despite the concerning lack of transparency, President Biden has so far vowed to keep Austin in his position as defense secretary.
It remains unclear whether Austin will comply with Rogers’ requests, as the letter is merely an “invitation” rather than a subpoena. Until then, Rogers asked that he answer any outstanding questions that have so far been ignored.
Some of those questions include an accounting of any other times Austin has transferred his authority due to a health issue, whether Hicks was given a “timeline of how long” she would be required to assume Austin’s responsibilities, and if she knew the president was unaware that Austin was in the hospital.
Rogers also asked the 70-year-old Austin to turn over “all orders … to inform or not inform any other person” of his hospitalization; a list of “all official actions taken or approved” by him from the hospital; and all communications about his health and whereabouts with Defense Department and White House staff.
“In the meantime, it is my expectation that you promptly answer all outstanding questions so the committee can review the necessary information in preparation for the upcoming hearing,” Rogers wrote. “I expect your full honesty and cooperation in this matter.
“Anything short of that is completely unacceptable.”
