The House of Representatives voted in favor of legislation that would require agencies headed by members of the National Security Council to inform the White House and Congress within 24 hours if their leaders become medically incapacitated.
This legislation, which passed the House in a voice vote on Monday afternoon, is a response to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s secretive hospitalization earlier this year.
Austin was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 due to complications from a treatment he received in December for prostate cancer. The White House was not notified of Austin’s hospitalization until Jan. 4, while Congress and the public were not informed until a day later, on Jan. 5.
“At a time when our nation is facing threats around the world, we cannot afford for those who are critical to America’s national security to disappear without explanation and clear delegation of their responsibilities,” Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), the bill’s sponsor, said on the House floor.
Austin has since apologized for how he handled his cancer diagnosis and his first hospitalization. The White House has made policy changes to avoid similar scenarios from happening again.
“I was being treated for prostate cancer,” Austin said in early February. “The news shook me, and I know that it shakes so many others, especially in the black community. It was a gut punch and frankly my first instinct was to keep it private. I don’t think it’s news that I’m a pretty private guy. I never like burdening others with my problems. It’s just not my way. But, I’ve learned from this experience.”
Defense officials have said there was no gap in the chain of command during his hospitalization.
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The secretary was hospitalized again on Feb. 11 and stayed through Feb. 13 for an “emergent bladder issue.” The department notified Congress, the White House, and the public of Austin’s hospitalization on the day he was brought to the hospital, demonstrating a much faster time frame than during his first health scare.
A Department of Defense investigation found that he did not act with “ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate.”