Defense Secretary Austin’s failure to tell White House of his hospitalization exposes collapse of civilian control over the military - World Socialist Web Site

Summary

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's hospitalization and subsequent failure to inform the White House and Congress exposes a collapse of civilian control over the military. Austin underwent a prostatectomy for prostate cancer on December 22 and experienced complications that led to his admission to the ICU on January 1. Despite senior aides being aware of his hospitalization, the White House and Congress were not informed until January 4.

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https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/01/10/lfbp-j10.html

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📆 Run Date

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Done

US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin at 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, June 2, 2023.

On Tuesday, the Department of Defense (DoD) press secretary, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, officially informed the press that the “elective surgery” performed December 22 on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was a prostatectomy (prostate removal), carried out at Walter Reed Army Medical Center following a diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Ryder’s briefing followed a press release by Walter Reed publicly revealing for the first time the nature of the illness that brought Austin to the hospital on December 22, the fact of the “minimally invasive” procedure carried out, with the aid of general anesthesia, and the subsequent “urinary tract infection” and blockage of the small intestines that resulted in Austin’s return to the hospital in severe pain on January 1 and admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) the following day.

Austin remained in the ICU until Monday and is still hospitalized at Walter Reed, with no official word as to when he will be released. The Defense Department claims he is recovering and is performing his duties fully from the hospital.

However, Ryder refused to answer questions from reporters about the unexplained failure of Austin and his DoD chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, to inform the White House or Congress that the defense secretary was hospitalized for three full days following Austin’s return to Walter Reed on January 1 and admission the following day to the ICU.

According to previous statements by Ryder and the DoD, Magsamen, a senior aide and two press secretaries, including Ryder, were made aware of Austin’s hospitalization on January 2, but failed to inform the White House’s National Security Council, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan or Congress. Magsamen has said she failed to notify officials because she was sick with the flu.

Also on January 2, DoD Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who was vacationing in Puerto Rico, was told that some authorities had been temporarily transferred from Austin to herself. However, she, like Biden and the White House, was kept in the dark about Austin’s hospitalization until January 4.