WASHINGTON – The White House insisted Friday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will remain in his post despite not telling anyone for days last week — including President Biden — that he was in the hospital.
“We will all learn from this event,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC. “But the defense secretary will remain in office. The President has full faith and confidence in him.”
Hours later, while answering questions from reporters in Pennsylvania, Biden himself said “I do” when asked if he still had confidence in Austin — but also said “yes” when asked if Austin had shown an error in judgment by not informing him. about the decision. disease.
The 70-year-old Austin’s admission to the secret hospital sent shock waves across Washington and caused outrage on Capitol Hill – but the deception was consistent with the private nature of the retired Army general, who most US officials saw as an asset before last week’s scandal.
Who is responsible?
Austin was rushed to Walter Reed National Army Hospital on the night of Jan. 1 in severe pain from a urinary tract infection — a complication from a prostatectomy he had undergone Dec. 22 — but failed to notify the White House of his hospitalization until Jan. 4.
The White House confirmed on Friday that Lloyd Austin will remain in his post. AP
Instead, he quietly transferred his authority to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks on Jan. 2 — without telling her or any of his other Pentagon colleagues why.
Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico at the time, didn’t find out about Austin’s hospitalization for another two days.
The Pentagon announced Austin’s hospitalization in a news dump Friday afternoon, Jan. 5, but the defense secretary kept the full story of his hospitalization secret until last Tuesday, when his Walter Reed doctor released a statement that made news to the Pentagon and the White House.
While some other senior military officers seek the limelight and grandstand, Austin, who retired from the Army in 2016 after 41 years of service, is happy to keep his head down and do his job — an attractive trait for an administration grappling with scandals involving the president’s own family and impatient- patience to avoid any inkling of opposition elsewhere.
President Biden said he still has confidence in Austin. Reuters
As expected, Austin’s private nature continued after taking over the Department of Defense.
He has briefed reporters at the Pentagon only a few times during his tenure, including the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the nearly two-year war in Ukraine and the recent outbreak of war in the Middle East.
His absence has long frustrated the Pentagon press corps, whose calls for Austin to join them in the briefing room have grown louder since the hospitalization drama.
“[Austin] has made a commitment to do better when it comes to transparency, and we will certainly entertain the request to have him brief you here in the briefing room,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday, responding to reporters who asked him to attend. “He has no plans to resign.”
With Austin, Biden can trust that he will get a fair evaluation and recommendation in private without public opposition.
As expected, Austin’s private nature continued after taking over the Department of Defense. via REUTERS
Even after the president ignored Austin’s advice and chose to pull all US troops out of Kabul in August 2021, the defense chief dutifully carried out the order and broke down opposition to the move inside the Pentagon.
But now, after last week’s public humiliation, some senior officials say Austin’s biggest asset has become a liability.
‘Rules for you’
Behind closed doors, some of Austin’s supporters have expressed dismay at his actions — or lack thereof — and struggled to understand why someone with his level of authority and decades of military experience would shirk such obvious responsibilities:
To respect the military chain of command.
In the armed forces, officers constantly monitor the troops under their command.
Often, service members are required to seek permission from their leaders to travel even on their off hours in the event of an emergency and they are needed immediately.
Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker and Senator Rick Scott spoke to reporters at a news conference to discuss Austin’s health emergency. AP
Austin’s four decades of experience mean his attempts to hide his illness are especially high-ranking members, who say last week’s nightmare is a classic case of “the rules are for you, not for me.”
Some in Austin’s orbit believe his silence about his prostate cancer stems from a reclusive nature and a deep commitment to privacy — though others say he waived that right when he agreed to serve in the Biden Cabinet.
Others speculated that Austin feared disclosing his illness would lead to a push to remove him from office, though that theory contradicts Biden’s continued reliance on his defense secretary during the latest crisis.
Austin has been running the Defense Department from his hospital bed for a week, receiving regular briefings from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and combatant commanders, handling administrative duties, and even participating in the planning of Thursday’s attack on the Yemen-based Houthis. Red Sea terror fighters.
“It was seamless; His participation was no different than any particular day, except that he briefed the president on options and engaged in discussions from the hospital,” Kirby told reporters on Friday.
Austin has been running the Department of Defense from his hospital bed for a week. Reuters
Another senior defense official involved with the strike agreed, saying Austin’s absence from the Pentagon “doesn’t seem essential” to continuing operations.
“I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been involved in this for the entirety of — I can’t tell you where General Austin is, whether … he’s upstairs in his office, or wherever,” the official said. .
Regardless of his intentions, Austin almost certainly never intended to bring about the response he received.
In addition to calls for lawmakers to resign, the House Armed Services Committee has begun an investigation into the matter, and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) dropped articles of impeachment Tuesday over the scandal.
“The pattern of misinformation and lies he has fed the American people is a serious threat to our national security and is unacceptable,” Rosendale said at the time. “It’s time to make a change.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
