The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, has remained hospitalized since January 1, which generated questions from Democratic and Republican politicians to the Pentagon for having hidden for days that the general was hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
The secretary had been hospitalized since Monday (1st) last week, due to complications following a minor medical procedure, but the Pentagon did not communicate this situation until January 4th to the White House and until January 5th to the rest of the North American population.
Only yesterday (7) did the department provide some details regarding his health status, although the information is brief. According to Bloomberg, Austin, the country’s top defense official, key cabinet member and crucial figure in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has not been to the Pentagon since January 1.
The Pentagon’s official version is similar, although it guarantees that the general is physically and emotionally well. “He remains hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center but is recovering well and in good spirits,” Defense Department spokesman Patrick Ryder said in a statement, adding that “although we do not currently have a date for specific release date, we will continue to provide updates on the status [de saúde] from the secretary as soon as it becomes available.”
According to the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin resumed normal work duties on Friday (5), although in the hospital.
Furthermore, he states that the secretary has already communicated with President Joe Biden and is already smoothly coordinating the activities of the Department of Defense in the United States and the rest of the world.
In turn, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke with Austin last weekend, before the incident. “I was not aware of your medical problem,” he said.
There are also unofficial versions released by the North American press that suggest that the person responsible spent four days in the intensive care unit, according to NBC News, which cited senior officials from the Biden administration.
Target of criticism
“It’s very shocking because when you’re Secretary of Defense, you have to let everyone know that you’re actually going to be on leave,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) told Fox News Sunday.
According to Bloomberg, President Biden and Austin didn’t speak for two days following the president was informed on Thursday (4) regarding the general’s health problems, but they spoke on Saturday (6) night, according to people familiar with the matter. with the subject.
Republican senators called for “consequences” as recently as Saturday for Lloyd Austin’s failure to notify the White House, accusing the Pentagon of deliberately withholding information and demanding that the Biden administration fully inform lawmakers regarding what happened.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-South Carolina) and Biden ally, defended Austin’s military background and his legal right to medical privacy, but suggested the matter should have been handled differently. “You have a duty to keep the public informed,” Clyburn said on CNN’s State of the Union.
“And I don’t know if it was him or someone in the military establishment who decided to do it that way.” Biden was briefed on Austin’s hospitalization on Thursday by his chief of staff, Jeff Zients, and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, according to two people who requested anonymity discussing internal communications, Bloomberg reported.
