Calls are growing for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to be fired over his mysterious hospitalization amid bipartisan demands for an explanation about why the Pentagon failed to inform the White House and top Defense officials of his absence for days.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a press conference with Israel's defense minister, in ... [+]
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday demanded Austin be removed in a post on Truth Social, accusing Austin of “improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty,” he wrote.
Other conservative figures, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), former White House strategist and right-wing podcast host Steve Bannon and Fox News host Laura Ingraham also called for Austin’s termination in social media posts after news broke Saturday that President Joe Biden did not learn of his hospitalization until three days after he was reportedly admitted to the intensive care unit.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon disclosed new details about his mysterious absence amid bipartisan calls for an explanation, including from the top two members of the House Armed Services Committee, Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who expressed concern that “several questions remain unanswered,” they said in a statement.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told the New York Times Sunday Austin had an elective medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22, and returned to the hospital on Jan. 1 due to “severe pain.”
Biden and top Defense Department officials, including Austin’s Deputy Defense Secretary Kelly Magsamen, who took over some of his duties, were not informed until Thursday of Austin’s hospitalization because his chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, was ill and unable to deliver the news until then, the Pentagon said.
The White House expressed confidence in Austin over the weekend, and is not considering firing him, Reuters reported Monday.
The Pentagon publicly disclosed Austin’s hospitalization Friday, just 15 minutes before it informed members of Congress. Austin, who remained in the hospital as of Sunday but was reportedly recovering and making phone calls, said he takes “full responsibility” for the information lapse.
Right-wing lawmakers, including Greene, had repeatedly called for Austin’s termination prior to his hospitalization, citing the military’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate, a decline in military recruitment and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which prompted bipartisan outrage over what was widely viewed as a botched evacuation of Americans and their allies from Kabul.