Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was admitted into the ICU at Walter Reed National Military Medical center on Monday of last week. He apparently suffered complications after an elective surgery. The Pentagon issued a statement on Friday.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following statement on Secretary of Defense Austin:
On the evening of January 1, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for complications following a recent elective medical procedure. He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today. At all times, the Deputy Secretary of Defense was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required.
Yah, except he didn’t bother to tell ANYONE that he got admitted. From what I’ve seen, and I have no reason to doubt the veracity of those reports, the first anyone heard of his admission to the ICU was three days later. His deputy, Kathleen Hicks, was on vacation in Puerto Rico and unaware Austin had been hospitalized. The White House first found out late on Thursday. Congress wasn’t informed until Friday, 15 minutes before the news broke. Meanwhile, his staff kept telling people “the Secretary is working from home for the week” while recovering.
WTAF?!?! Seriously, in what world is this acceptable? It’s not as if the world is ready to burst into flames at any second. Oh, wait, it is. Hell, someone at DOD ordered a drone strike on an Iraqi militia leader while Austin was in the ICU.
It gets worse, POTATUS said he still supports Austin and his job is not in jeopardy. How that’s possible, I don’t know. Someone is going to have to get the axe for this, but it won’t be anyone that should get it. Look for some mid-level staffer to get loudly and publicly get defenestrated in the coming days. It’s just a matter of finding the correct scapegoat.
Addendum: as I was getting ready to publish this piece, some new information came to light. Austin was not released from Walter Reed on Friday as the DOD release insinuated. He is still admitted, but no longer in the ICU.