February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nOn Thursday, Austin is scheduled to appear before the House on Capitol Hill, where he is likely to face harsh criticism. The inspector general of the Defense Department is also performing a review, which has not yet been finished.<\/p>\n
Austin underwent surgery on December 22nd<\/sup>, 2023, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis in early December. He was reportedly in severe pain when he was brought back to Walter Reed by ambulance on January 1st<\/sup>, 2024, and he was transferred to the intensive care unit the following day.<\/p>\nAs a result, Austin transferred his decision-making authorities to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks during his first surgery and again when he was in intensive care. However, according to reports, he did not explain to her or the White House administration what the reason was for his departure.<\/p>\n
Officials from the Pentagon recognized that while they were informed on January 2nd<\/sup> that Austin had been admitted to the hospital, public relations and defense aides chose not to disclose the information to the public or the National Security Council until January 4th<\/sup>. It took four additional days after that for the explanation for hospitalization to be revealed.<\/p>\nOn Monday, a set of proposed modifications and an unclassified summary of the review were shared by defense officials. According to the investigation, there was no standard procedure for dealing with the situation, and the fact that his hospital stay was \u201cunplanned\u201d purportedly added to the reason why \u201cno one was informed about it.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition, the summary stated that Austin\u2019s staff was restricted by medical privacy laws that limited doctors from sharing information and they \u201cwere hesitant to pry or share any information they did learn.\u201d It continued, explaining that they were unable to guarantee \u201ctimely secured communications\u201d since Austin\u2019s health was \u201cin flux.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On February 8th<\/sup>, the 30-day review was completed and submitted to Austin. However, only sections of it were publicly shared. The Pentagon has asserted that parts of the report are still confidential.<\/p>\nAfter he returned to work, Austin admitted that he should have handled the situation differently and apologized for keeping Biden and others in the dark, but he assured the public that he never instructed his staff to keep his surgery and hospitalization a secret from the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition, Austin denied that his office had a culture of secrecy and added that staff members might have thought that \u201cthey\u2019re doing things in my best interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strengthened protocols for the transfer of authority and stronger reporting requirements during those particular situations are included in the proposed changes.<\/p>\n
As a result, the White House released new protocols in response to the concealment of Austin\u2019s hospitalizations, making sure that it will be notified whenever a Cabinet head transfers decision-making authority when they are unavailable for any reason.<\/p>\n
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