Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's answers about his hospitalization this month are "completely unacceptable" and failed to explain his decisions and actions, according to Sen. Roger Wicker, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"We have given Secretary Austin and the department every opportunity to be forthright," the Mississippi Republican, who wrote a letter to Austin on Jan. 10, said in a statement Monday, The Hill reported. "Their failure to provide a fully truthful accounting of events is disappointing. Something like this cannot be permitted to happen again."
Austin, 70, underwent a surgery for prostate cancer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on Dec. 22. He returned to the hospital on Jan. 1 because of complications from the surgery, including a urinary tract infection, but his hospitalization was not revealed until four days later, with the Pentagon not explaining why he was being treated until Jan. 9. He was released from the hospital last Monday.
In his letter, Wicker asked the secretary to explain when he was admitted to an intensive care unit and why an ambulance took him there instead of his security detail.
Further, Wicker asked about the nature and timeline of Austin's illness, and who had been notified of the situation.
The senator said Austin's answers were not adequate, given the situation.
In a response last Thursday to Wicker, Austin wrote that "at no time during my stay at Walter Reed were there any gaps in authorities or risk to command-and-control" and that he and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks “have always been fully prepared to support the president as commander-in-chief" during the time he was hospitalized.
Austin said he underwent the surgery, a prostatectomy, on Dec. 22 at Walter Reed, with Hicks assuming the duties of his office during the time that he was under general anesthesia for the procedure.
Austin added that he went home the same day after the surgery and resumed his duties at that time.
He further explained that on Jan. 1, he had an unexpected complication including nausea and pain in his hip, leg, and abdomen.
"I decided to return to Walter Reed via ambulance, given the amount of pain that I was experiencing," he wrote. "The following day, I was admitted to the intensive care unit for closer monitoring, and the Deputy Secretary again assumed the functions and duties of my office."
Austin also said Hicks had all access to classified and unclassified communications, even while she was in Puerto Rico at the time, that he resumed his "functions and duties" on Jan. 5, and that he never went under anesthesia or became unconscious during his stay.
"While at Walter Reed, I had full access to required secure communications capabilities and continued to monitor the Department’s day-to-day operations worldwide," he said in his response.
Austin acknowledged that he should have kept President Joe Biden and the White House fully informed.
"I have always said that the Department of Defense is a learning organization and I am committed to transparency and improving processes moving forward," Austin wrote.
The Pentagon's performance office and its director of administration and Management are reviewing the matter and plan to issue a report within 30 days, he added.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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