A U.S. congressman is moving to impeach Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after the secretary and his staff hid the fact he was hospitalized from the White House and the public.
“Secretary Austin has violated his oath of office time and time again, and has jeopardized the lives of the American people,” Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said in a statement.
Mr. Rosendale pointed to how the U.S. military allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly over the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which holds intercontinental ballistic missiles, and subsequently fly further without shooting it down or taking any other action.
“Moreover, recent reports show that Secretary Austin lied about the balloon repeatedly, putting the American people in danger,” Mr. Rosendale said, highlighting reports that the Biden administration planned to keep the balloon’s existence secret and that they later found out the balloon used an American internet service provider to communicate with China.
“This dishonesty seems to be a repeated pattern for the secretary as he once again lied to our military and the American people about his health last week,” Mr. Rosendale added.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Austin, 70, a retired general, underwent an elective procedure on Dec. 22, 2023, before being released home, according to the Pentagon. Neither Mr. Austin nor other officials told the White House or the public about the procedure.
Mr. Austin started suffering from “severe pain” on Jan. 1 and was rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has said. Mr. Austin was treated in intensive care and was “in quite a bit of pain” but was conscious, Mr. Ryder said.
A small circle of officials were told of the hospitalization, but not the White House nor Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense. Some of Mr. Austin’s authorities were transferred to Ms. Hicks on Jan. 2, but she was not informed of the hospitalization until Jan. 4. National security adviser Jake Sullivan was told that same day.
“The secretary of defense’s chief of staff had been out sick with the flu, which caused a delay in these notifications. We are currently reviewing how we can improve these notification procedures, to include White House and congressional notifications,” Maj. Gen. Ryder told reporters on Monday.
Some members Congress have called on Mr. Austin to resign.
“He absolutely should resign. He should be fired by the president,“ Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said on Fox News. ”The engine is running, but nobody’s behind the wheel. That’s the story of the Biden admin at a time of chaos for the United States across the world.”
The new impeachment resolution can be considered by the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. Some members may be interested in voting for Mr. Rosendale’s resolution, but its prospects are unclear given the GOP has so far failed to impeach any Biden administration officials.
A bid to remove Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to combat the worst border crisis in history was shelved in a bipartisan vote in 2023, with eight Republicans siding with Democrats, though the GOP says it is preparing to try again this year.
The House is also investigating President Biden for possible wrongdoing relating to his son’s business dealings.
Even some Democrats have questioned how the hospitalization was hidden, including Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
“We are concerned with how the disclosure of the Secretary’s condition was handled. 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,” Mr. Smith said in a joint statement with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “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.”
Kelly Magsamen, Mr. Austin’s chief of staff, on Jan. 8 ordered officials to review the notification process for when the secretary of defense can’t perform his duties. The review should go over the timeline of Mr. Austin’s hospitalization and the notifications that were made as well as the process for determining whether a secretary is or will be unable to perform duties, Ms. Magsamen said.
