Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's intensive care unit, two weeks after being admitted.
As he continues his recovery, he will be operating from his residence, with no specific timeline provided for his return to office duties.
The revelation of Austin's hospitalization came to light during a Defense Department press briefing on January 5, where a written statement disclosed that Austin had been admitted to the hospital on New Year's Day.
Several updates and background information have since emerged, including the fact that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was aware of Austin's hospitalization but did not inform the White House or the Service Chiefs. It was also revealed that Austin did not inform Biden's National Security Adviser of his ICU admission. Furthermore, Congress was not informed of Austin's ICU admission, and his deputy was on vacation for the last week.
The Associated Press has provided a comprehensive timeline of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins hospitalization.
Following the announcement of Austin's hospitalization, he and his personal staff remained vague about the cause. They initially cited "complications" from an "elective medical procedure" until January 9 when they disclosed that Austin had undergone surgery for prostate cancer on December 22.
Austin failed to delegate his authority to his deputy during his December 22 surgery or during his ICU stay. Deputy Defense Secretary Katherine Hicks was assigned a few responsibilities without explanation and was not officially informed of Austin's hospitalization until January 4. Other senior staff and the service chiefs were not informed until two hours before the January 5 announcement. Congress was notified a mere 15 minutes before the public.
In a surprising move, Austin and his inner circle chose not to inform the White House or Department of State about his health situation. They propagated the narrative that he was working from home and labeled his cancer surgery as "elective," a term often misunderstood as optional, when in fact, all surgeries are either elective or emergency.
Austin's absence from duty, coupled with his lack of transparency and failure to inform key figures such as Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken, or the service chiefs, raises serious concerns about his integrity and intelligence.
Given the current military crises affecting the U.S., Austin's decision to conceal his absence from duty and the cause of the absence portrays him as an unreliable party within the Executive Branch, with Congress, and with our allies.
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