The White House supports its Secretary of Defense in the scandal over his secret hospitalization

What was the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, thinking when it did not occur to him to notify anyone for almost a week that he was admitted to intensive care, in the heat of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza? The controversy over the medical situation of the head of the Pentagon, who is recovering in a military hospital from the complications of a surgical operation, does not subside as the days go by. The Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump demands his dismissal; The White House was categorical this Monday: he maintains all his confidence in the general.

Austin, below only President Joe Biden in the US military chain of command, entered the intensive care unit at Walter Reed Hospital on the northern outskirts of Washington on January 1. For five days no one knew that the Secretary of Defense was hospitalized. Neither his second, Kathleen Hicks—who had traveled to Puerto Rico and had to assume the duties of her boss there—nor the American president himself.

Finally, last Friday afternoon, and only 24 hours after having notified the White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, of the situation, the Pentagon issued a succinct statement. The four-star general remains hospitalized this Monday, although the Department of Defense assures that he is recovering without problems and has taken over his duties from his hospital room. Biden spoke with him on Saturday. But, according to the most recent memo from the Pentagon, from Sunday night, There is no expected date for the patient to be discharged..

“There is no plan other than for Secretary Austin to continue in his job and continue forward with the leadership that he has already shown,” he assured the press from the presidential plane. Air Force One the spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, who accompanied Biden this Monday on a visit to South Carolina. For her part, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, on the same flight, stressed that the president maintains his “complete confidence” in his Secretary of Defense.

“Obviously, as you would expect, we will look at the process and procedure in this case and try to learn from this experience,” Kirby said. If the investigation into what happened determines that it is necessary to make changes to the notification protocol, the White House will apply them. Until now, the presidential office checks every morning where the holders of each portfolio are, but only in a “generic” way, according to the spokesperson: it controls the city or location where they are, but not the exact point.

“The main issue right now is Secretary Austin's health and making sure he receives all the care and support he needs to fully recover,” the spokesperson said. “He has already assumed all his responsibilities again. He already performs all the functions that he usually takes care of. The only difference is that he is doing it from the hospital,” he added.

So far it has not been revealed what the medical problem of the Secretary of Defense has been, a man of introverted nature who hates disclosing details of his private life, according to those close to him.

The Pentagon has confirmed that Austin had undergone surgery at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, and was discharged a day later. But the complications resulting from this intervention forced him to be admitted to hospital. “There was no notification or knowledge at the White House or the National Security Council until Thursday afternoon,” Kirby admitted. “It is expected that when a Government representative is hospitalized, the hierarchical chain will be notified. “That is what is expected,” he concluded.

Austin's duties as Secretary of Defense require him to be available at all times to respond to the outbreak of any potential national security crisis. This is an especially pressing need at a time when the United States faces attacks by groups sympathetic to Iran in the Middle East and fears the expansion of the conflict between Israel and Hamas to other parts of the region, while Russia intensifies its attacks in Ukraine. In a statement issued Saturday, Austin took “full responsibility” for the lack of transparency and secrecy surrounding his medical situation.

But it does not appear that the White House interpreted the communication failure as malicious negligence, but rather as an omission resulting from the general's discreet personality. Austin, the first black Secretary of Defense in the United States and a man of great physical presence – he is 193 centimeters tall – is a highly appreciated person in the Administration. And Biden has been characterized throughout his political life as being very loyal to his team. Something that has been accentuated in a presidential term in which he has surrounded himself with people he absolutely trusts and who have known each other for decades.

“The president respects the fact that Secretary Austin has taken responsibility for the lack of transparency. “He also respects the magnificent job he has done as Secretary of Defense,” Kirby said Monday.

Criticisms and doubts

Although the White House is willing to turn the page, the Republican opposition does not seem willing to abandon the controversy, and even less so with a week left until the primary process to decide a new candidate in the November presidential elections begins in the Iowa caucuses. . Some Democratic congressmen have also begun to express doubts about the appropriateness of the Pentagon chief's behavior.

The favorite for the nomination, Donald Trump, assured on Sunday night on his social network, Truth Social, that Austin should be dismissed for his “improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty.” “He has been missing for a week and no one, not even his boss, the corrupt Joe Biden, had any idea where he was or could be,” he wrote.

The president of the Republican group in the House of Representatives and member of the Armed Forces Committee in that body, Elise Stefanik, has also demanded the departure of the head of the Pentagon, in a message in X, formerly Twitter: “This troubling lack of transparency exhibits a tremendous error in judgment and a serious threat to national security. Full accountability must be demanded, starting with the resignation of Secretary Austin and those who lied for him, and a congressional investigation into this serious dereliction of duty.”

In a joint statement, the leaders of both parties on the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Adam Smith, write that “several questions remain to be answered” about the case, “included in what the surgical operation consisted of and what its complications were, what is the current state of health of the secretary, how and when the delegation of responsibilities occurred and the reason for the delay in notifying Congress and the president.”

“Transparency is absolutely fundamental,” say both legislators. “Secretary Austin should provide as soon as possible this additional data regarding his health and the decision-making process that occurred last week.”

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