Following U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s delayed notification of his recent hospitalization to government officials, questions have been raised about whether the top Department of Defense official violated any laws or regulations that warrant disciplinary actions.
Austin, 70, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December and has been undergoing treatment. He developed complications from a minimally invasive procedure to treat it and was admitted to a hospital on Jan. 1. He is the nation’s first Black secretary of defense.
He ended up in the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Center and remained hospitalized until Tuesday, according to NBC News. Top White House officials, including President Joe Biden, didn’t learn about his hospitalization until three days later, an issue that many GOP members of Congress have used to criticize the Biden administration.
Various U.S. laws govern reporting requirements to Congress and government officials, especially in matters concerning defense, intelligence, or security.
The Pentagon’s inspector general, Robert P. Storch, announced an investigation Thursday into the handling of Austin’s prolonged hospitalization, including the failure to promptly disclose it to President Biden and Congress. The inquiry will assess roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions associated with the hospitalization.
Austin may have breached the law by not reporting his recent hospitalization to officials, potentially violating a U.S. law on “reporting of vacancies,” legal experts said. Some lawmakers have suggested that Austin resign or be replaced by someone who can perform his duties more effectively.
Legal experts told Reuters he might face a reprimand from Biden, but the law lacks specific penalties for such lapses. Still, White House officials said Biden still has “complete confidence” in Austin. As of Thursday, Austin remains in the hospital “but has returned to his regular duties,” according to Reuters.
Now, Congress has called on the Department of Defense officials to answer myriads of questions regarding procedures, and some members have even called for his resignation.
Several Republican senators from various states who serve on the Committee on Armed Services, including Florida Sen. Rick Scott, wrote a letter on Wednesday accusing the Department of Defense of violating a law that requires executive agencies to notify Congress of absences.
As a result, the congressional committee demanding Department of Defense officials brief Congress no later than Jan. 19 “to begin rebuilding trust with Congress and the American people,” the letter says.
“The department’s failure to immediately inform the President, Congress, and the Comptroller General of the United States of your incapacitation clearly contravenes the requirements of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998,” Republicans wrote. “Further, the apparent failure to even notify your lawful successor in this case is a massive failure of judgment and negligence. It is an intolerable breach of trust with the American people at a dangerous moment for U.S. national security. …Your statement provided on Jan. 6 is wholly insufficient to address the situation.”
The Pentagon, serving as the headquarters of the Department of Defense, must adhere to a law called the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The law “establishes requirements for temporarily filling vacant positions in executive branch agencies that require presidential appointment and Senate confirmation.”
“This act identifies who may temporarily serve, for how long, and what happens when no one is serving under the act and the position is vacant. [The] Government Accountability Office issues letters to the President and Congress reporting violations of the act’s time limitations and issues decisions on agency compliance with the act when requested by Congress,” the law says.
However, the law doesn’t appear to specify any strict penalties requiring Austin to be removed from the top position.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon had launched a 30-day review of the circumstances surrounding Austin’s situation and “has put in place immediate changes to ensure that top Pentagon and White House officials are notified promptly whenever the defense secretary’s authorities are transferred to the deputy secretary,” ABC News reported.
The secretary of defense serves as the head of the U.S. Department of Defense and the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces and is a high-ranking federal cabinet member. The secretary of defense is responsible for policy development, planning, resource management, and program evaluation for the military.
During a recent press conference, a Fox News reporter questioned why Biden went “days without knowing that his defense secretary is in a hospital bed.”
John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, defended the Biden administration, saying, “At no time was the ability for the United States military to defend our national security interest compromised.”
“I’ve seen some of the sniping out there, you know, that how effective can the process be if the secretary can be gone and we don’t know about it,” Kirby cpntinued. “I think what you need to understand and what I hope people will understand is that the national security decision making process does not require, in fact, should not require, cabinet level officials being the sole people in the room making decisions on any given day. You staff these things from the middle up and then the cabinet officials, whether it’s…Secretary Austin, come together as appropriate to make the key decisions which happened, it happened on the 1st of January.”
