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We wish Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin a speedy and full recovery from the health issue, revealed Tuesday to be complications from a prostate cancer surgery, which led to him spending time in an intensive care unit. We also wish the White House, his deputies at the Department of Defense and the American public had more information about this situation as it unfolded.
Austin is now out of intensive care, thankfully, but many questions remain. If anything, the needed questioning is just getting underway.
Here’s a brief summary of the timeline known to the public: Austin had the surgery on Dec. 22, developed complications and was hospitalized on Jan. 1, President Joe Biden and his national security advisor Jake Sullivan didn’t learn of it until Jan. 4, the public wasn’t told until Jan. 5, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks had taken on some of Austin’s duties for two days before learning of his hospitalization.
This was clearly a failure of process or a failure by certain people to follow a process, or both. And it has been shrouded in an unacceptable cloud of secrecy, omission and confusion. We join in the already loud, bipartisan chorus calling for more information and accountability.
There should always be a clear, documented chain of command and flow of information when it comes to civilian control of our military. If the secretary of defense is in the hospital, the president needs to know about it immediately. Their deputies need to know about it immediately, not just have some responsibilities passed on without explanation. The American public needs to know about it.
This should be obvious.
There is never a good moment for this kind of uncertainty within the Department of Defense. But, with heightened upheaval in the Middle East and the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine, this moment is an especially bad one.
“I am concerned about his health and shocked that the Pentagon and White House have not been more forthcoming about his condition or why he remains hospitalized,” Sen. Susan Collins said in a Jan. 8 press release before some additional information, including Austin’s cancer diagnosis, had been revealed. “It appears that even the president, his national security advisor, and the Deputy Secretary of Defense were unaware of Secretary Austin’s hospitalization for at least three days. Given the extremely serious military decisions that the United States is dealing with, including attacks on our troops by Iranian-backed proxies, the war in the Middle East, and the ongoing aggression by Russia in Ukraine, it is inexplicable that the secretary’s condition remains shrouded in secrecy.”
Collins is the ranking member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Sen. Angus King serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“I am extremely concerned about the lapse in communication between Defense Secretary Austin, President Biden and the National Security Council throughout the Secretary’s medical treatment,” King said in a Jan. 10 statement to the BDN editorial board. “Our national security relies on the competency and availability of defense leaders at every level of the chain of command; withholding this information has a direct impact on the safety and security of Americans at home and abroad. Congress has a responsibility to get clarification on the matter, and I will engage on this matter as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Though I wish the secretary a full and speedy recovery, I will seek details and answers for this misjudgment.”
Much has been made about Austin valuing privacy. But being secretary of defense comes with certain responsibilities and expectations — including that the commander-in-chief, Congress and public need to have the information to be confident (and aware, generally) of a secretary’s ability to serve. Notification should have been provided and duties clearly delegated prior to his surgery involving general anesthesia, rather than information slowly and inconsistently being shared — if shared at all.
“I want to first offer Secretary Austin my best wishes for his successful recovery and good health. I am keeping him in my prayers. I recognize that he is a private person and I appreciate why he would not want to disclose this diagnosis or surgery,” Rep. Jared Golden, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a Jan. 10 statement to the editorial board. “That being said, the Secretary of Defense, like many high-level leadership positions, is not afforded the same level of privacy as other citizens. Being transparent about a diagnosis that could impact the ability to perform the duties of the position comes with the territory of the job. This was not handled well by the Pentagon, and it needs to learn from this and ensure it does not happen again.”
The White House is reviewing the breakdown and conducting a cabinet-wide review of authority delegation protocols, which is warranted but not nearly a sufficient response on its own. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration will “try to learn from this experience.” The Pentagon used similarly insufficient language.
This never should have been a learning experience. There needs to be a clear and documented policy, followed meticulously, that precludes such a lesson in the first place.
“I wish him a speedy recovery, but also believe that he must be forthcoming about the nature of his illness and his ability to do his job,” Collins concluded in her Monday statement.
We share the same sentiment. Everyone should be wishing Austin a quick and full recovery. At the same time, the Pentagon and White House still owe the American people more information, and more accountability.
