Sec Def hospitalized
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In the hospital since Jan 1.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized earlier this week for unspecified reasons but is recuperating, the Pentagon said late Friday, after withholding the information for days.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said that Austin, who is 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington on Monday “for complications following a recent elective medical procedure.”Ryder did not provide additional details, but said that Austin, a former Army general who was nominated for the high-profile post by President Biden and became the nation’s first African American defense secretary in 2021, was “recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today.”
It was not clear when he could be discharged, or why the Pentagon did not disclose Austin’s hospitalization when it occurred earlier in the week. -
Oh...
The Pentagon did not tell President Joe Biden and other top officials about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization for three days, three U.S. officials said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior White House aides didn’t know of Austin’s Jan. 1 hospitalization until the Defense Department sent over word Jan. 4, two other U.S. officials said. Sullivan informed Biden shortly after DOD’s Thursday notification.
The officials said it was highly unlikely that Austin conveyed word to Biden privately before Sullivan’s briefing. “If Jake didn’t know, no way the president knew,” one of them said. “Who would have told him of Austin’s condition if not Jake? And if someone did tell the president, Jake would’ve been his first call.”
All officials and other people who spoke for this story were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
The news of Austin’s situation came as a shock to all White House staff as they were unaware the Pentagon boss was dealing with complications following an elective medical procedure, the officials said. National Security Council staffers were surprised it took the Pentagon so long to let them know of Austin’s status. The Pentagon didn’t make the information public until Friday evening, notifying Congress about 15 minutes before releasing a public statement.
“This should not have happened this way,” said one of the U.S. officials. The NSC and Pentagon declined comment.
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No one mandated or available to run the place in his absence?
If not then it’s yet another reason I prefer the Westminster system of governance.
@Renauda said in Sec Def hospitalized:
No one mandated or available to run the place in his absence?
If not then it’s yet another reason I prefer the Westminster system of governance.
We don't know, do we?
The (P )resident of the United States was unaware.
Let me rephrase.
The President of the United States was unaware, for THREE DAYS, that his Secretary of
WarDefense was incapacitated.I'm sure someone was there to pick up the baton, but don't you think that POTATUS should have been notified?
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I guess that so long as the WH Chief of Staff knows it’s A Okay.
He did know didn’t he?
Not that I really care, mind you.
@Renauda said in Sec Def hospitalized:
I guess that so long as the WH Chief of Staff knows it’s A Okay.
He did know didn’t he?
Unclear. But if he did, the problem is even bigger. Shouldn't he notify POTUS? I mean, his job is to advise POTUS as to what's happening (see picture of Bush II and Card). If he knew and didn't notify POTUS, he should be fired.
"The news of Austin’s situation came as a shock to all White House staff."
That, presumably included the Chief of STAFF.
And, NSA advisor Sullivan was unaware, FFS.
At least POTUS was on the job.
Wait, he was on vacation. I suppose that's forgivable, since he didn't know.
Not that I really care, mind you.
That's the @Renauda we know and love.
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@George-K said in Sec Def hospitalized:
Wait, the Deputy SecDef was on VACATION when Austin was hospitalized?
Yeah, and she didn't know that Austin was out of commission.
When the deputy secretary of defense began assuming some of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s responsibilities on January 2, not even she knew that it was because Austin was hospitalized, two defense officials told CNN.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon’s number two leader, was among the senior leaders kept in the dark about Austin’s true whereabouts until Thursday, three days after the secretary checked into Walter Reed medical center following complications from an elective surgery. Not even the president was aware of Austin’s hospitalization until three days into his stay there, CNN previously reported.
The revelation that not even Hicks knew that Austin was hospitalized is sure to add to questions swirling within the administration about why his status was kept secret, not only from the public but from senior national security officials and the White House.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday he had not been aware that Austin had been hospitalized. The two spoke the weekend before Austin was hospitalized on New Year’s Day, Blinken said at a news conference in Qatar, but he declined to engage in “hypotheticals” when asked what his own notification policy would be if he were hospitalized. Blinken called Austin an “extraordinary leader” and wished him a full recovery.
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Wait.
I didn't think it was possible to get worse.
Joint Chiefs - "Hold our beer."
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown was not informed of Austin’s situation until Tuesday, the day after his hospitalization, a senior Defense Department official told POLITICO on Sunday. Even Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who assumed some of his duties while he was in the hospital, did not know his whereabouts until Thursday, a second senior DOD official said after CNN first reported the news.
So the Chair of the Joint Chiefs knew on Tuesday, but didn't talk to the White House until Thursday?
Another resignation, please.
The Pentagon says the delay in notifying senior administration officials about Austin’s hospitalization was partly due to the fact his his chief of staff was also out with her own illness at the same time.
Don't piss on my shoe and tell me it's raining.
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Can you imagine if the CEO of a company went MIA for 4 days and no one knew where he was?
Well, not "no one," obviously. Some people knew, and they're not talking.
The board would be holding an emergency meeting to discuss dismissal.
And...no word on what happened. My money's still on a colonoscopy gone sour.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
