Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since the beginning of the year due to surgical complications, the Pentagon revealed on Jan. 5—four days after the Pentagon chief was first admitted to the hospital.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Mr. Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 “for complications following a recent elective medical procedure.”
No details were provided about the procedure undergone by Mr. Austin or the complications that followed. Mr. Ryder only stated the defense chief “is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today.”
“At all times, Deputy Secretary of Defense [Kathleen Hicks] was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required,” Mr. Ryder said in a statement.
Mr. Austin, 70, sits just below President Joe Biden at the top of the chain of command of the U.S. military. His duties require his availability at a moment’s notice to address various national security crises.
Just a day before the announcement, Mr. Ryder held a news briefing that conveyed the sense of business as usual at the Pentagon, offering the defense chief’s condolences to ally Japan following its New Year’s Day earthquake, for example.
Counter to Normal Practice
In a letter to Mr. Ryder and Chris Meagher, the assistant defense secretary for public affairs, the Pentagon Press Association (PPA) said the Pentagon’s failure to disclose Mr. Austin’s hospitalization “falls far below” the normal disclosure standards.“The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage,” the letter reads.
According to the PPA, the public has a right to know when U.S. Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia, or when duties are delegated as the result of any medical procedure.
“That has been the practice even up to the president’s level. As the nation’s top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no claim to privacy in this situation,” the association stated.
“At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader,” it added.
The United States has enhanced its military force posture in the Middle East to boost deterrence amid fears that the ongoing Israel–Hamas war could escalate into a regional conflict.
Iranian-backed militias have repeatedly launched drones, missiles, and rockets at bases where U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq and Syria, prompting the Biden administration to strike back on a number of occasions. Those strikes often involve sensitive, top-level discussions and decisions by Mr. Austin and other key military leaders.
The United States is also the chief organizer behind a new international maritime coalition using ships and other assets to patrol the southern Red Sea to deter persistent attacks on commercial vessels by the Houthis in Yemen.
