The government was unaware that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized

US defense secretary’s hospitalization kept secret even from deputy. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Biden late Thursday afternoon after finding out about Austin’s hospitalization. Austin had gone to the hospital on New Year’s Day because of problems from a surgery he chose to have.

US defense secretary’s hospitalization kept secret even from deputy. The Pentagon announced Austin’s hospitalization on Friday. Austin shared his first statement on Saturday, five days after going to the hospital, saying he could have done a “better job” of telling people about it. He didn’t share any details about why he was in the hospital. As of Saturday night, he was still in the hospital, according to a defense official.

On Saturday night, Austin thanked the “amazing” staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and said he is “on the mend” and looking forward to returning to the Pentagon.

He acknowledged “media concerns about transparency” and said “I commit to doing better” in the statement. But he did not say sorry for not telling the public or the press sooner. Usually, when high-up government or military officials are in the hospital, they put out a statement within a day.

On New Year’s Day – when Austin went to the hospital – he was among Biden’s top national security officials who had a call with the president to talk about the growing situation in the Red Sea. It wasn’t clear if the call was before or after Austin was hospitalized. But the source said Austin sounded fine during the meeting.

The fact that the defense secretary talked with the president about important national security things on the day he went to the hospital – and that the White House only found out days later – shows how strange the situation is. People in charge were surprised when they learned Austin was in the hospital and that they didn’t know about it sooner. People at the White House generally like Austin.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks took over some of Austin’s duties while she was on vacation in Puerto Rico during the time Austin was in the hospital, two US officials said. Hicks had gone to Puerto Rico before Austin went to the hospital.

GOP Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Saturday that the chain of events was “unacceptable.” “Worryingly, we now have more questions than answers,” he said, asking why the Defense Secretary didn’t follow the rules for reporting when someone is out of the job, and who decided not to follow them.

“What role did the Secretary of Defense’s staff play? When exactly was the President notified? What justification did the Department have for withholding information from the National Security Council? To what extent was the Secretary incapacitated by his surgery?” he said in a statement.

“The very fact that we have none of this information is an indictment of an administration which consistently holds Congressional authority on national defense matters in contempt,” Wicker added.

Austin has taken back all his duties since then, and a White House official said that Biden and Austin talked on Saturday night. The White House official said the call was a “warm conversation,” and added that the “president has complete confidence in Secretary Austin and is looking forward to him being back in the Pentagon.”

The people in Congress who check that the government is doing its job were not told about Austin’s hospitalization until Friday night, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said on Friday night that Austin was “recovering well.” The Defense Department hasn’t shared more details about his condition or the reason he was in the hospital.

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