Talk about a Friday night news dump. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was apparently hospitalized at Walter Reed since New Year’s Day, and the Biden administration didn’t bother telling anyone until after 5 pm Eastern on Friday.

I mean, why not? It’s not like American forces are taking hostile fire and having the Secretary of Defense on deck might be important or something…

Awesome. Friday dump of hugely consequential news about something that happened 4 days ago. https://t.co/jlYnKaP2hF

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 6, 2024

However, if you listen to the Pentagon, you would think this was all just FINE. Why should they bother to inform the media that Lloyd Austin was out of commission?

On why Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalization following an elective surgery was kept from the press since Monday: "This has been an evolving situation in which we had to consider a number of factors including medical and personal privacy issues." – Pentagon Press Sec

— Liz Friden (@Liz_Friden) January 5, 2024

I’m sorry, what? Lloyd Austin is the Secretary of Defense. He’s a public figure in a significant postition within the Cabinet. We all complained when Pete Buttigieg decided not to tell anyone that he was on paternity leave as supply chain issues were piling up. This is a LOT more serious, especially since the Pentagon is calling this a “minor elective medical procedure” that suddenly required hospitalization. And Lloyd Austin hasn’t even left the hospital yet!

(Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat) Ryder said Friday that it’s not clear when Austin will be released from the hospital, but said the secretary is “recovering well,” adding that he expected “to resume his full duties” Friday.

The Pentagon’s failure to disclose Austin’s hospitalization is counter to normal practice with other senior U.S. and Cabinet officials, including the president. The Pentagon Press Association, which represents media members who cover the Defense Department, sent a letter of protest to Ryder and Chris Meagher, the assistant defense secretary for public affairs.

“The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage,” the PPA said in its letter. “At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader.”

Another media group that is pointing out the problem of withholding Austin’s status are the Military Reporters and Editors.

This is a violation of the intent and spirit of the Pentagon’s own Principles of Information, and it fails to meet the standards of public disclosure for senior government officials unable to exercise their duties.

The Pentagon had ample opportunity to disclose Secretary Austin’s absence including during a media briefing on Thursday. The lack of disclosure has created a serious breach of trust at a critical juncture. It is also another troubling sign of a growing lack of transparency. That the information about a five-day absence was not released until Friday at 5 p.m. is keeping in the worst traditions of obfuscation and opacity.

There is no excuse for the lack of notification. Secretary Austin enjoys no privilege of privacy here given the important role he plays. The Pentagon only has to look at how the Marines handled the hospitalization of the Commandant, Gen. Eric Smith, to see how these matters should be handled.

But wait a minute – the United States ordered a strike on an Iranian proxy operating out of Iraq on Thursday! The last tweet that Lloyd Austin’s account put out was on December 30th (as of Friday night), and there is no mention of this strike in Iraq. Who ordered that strike? Who the hell is supposed to be in charge? It’s all good, says the Pentagon press secretary.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was “prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required,” Ryder said in the statement.

Austin’s hospitalization – and the lack of acknowledgement – comes as the US faces a number of overseas national security issues, including attacks on US troops in the Middle East, US naval vessels intercepting Houthi launches from Yemen, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

During Austin’s hospitalization, the US carried out a strike in Baghdad against the commander of a pro-Iran militia. Ryder said Austin gave authorization for the strike before he was hospitalized.

The failure to publicly announce Austin’s hospitalization breaks with past precedent.

No, this is not okay. Something is seriously rotten in the state of Denmark. If Deputy Secretary Hicks was totally capable and standing by, then what is the big deal about informing the press that Austin is unavailable due to hospitalization? There are some serious questions to be answered here.

First, what was the minor procedure, and what was the complication that led to hospitalization? Lloyd Austin doesn’t get to play the HIPAA card here, not when he is supposed to be in charge at the Pentagon. As the press associations said, this is not how things are done.

Second, was Congress notified? A quick check around shows no statements from any Congressional leaders. I can’t imagine that either side of the aisle is going to particularly pleased if no one in the legistlative branch knew what was happening.

Third, was the White House told what was going on? I can’t wait to hear Karine Jean-Pierre attempt to not answer this question come Monday.

Trying to bury this story as a Friday info dump tells everyone that the Pentagon simply doesn’t want to discuss what happened. But the cover-up screams that there was much more going on here than the Pentagon, or Lloyd Austin, wanted to disclose – and it could be something benign, or something very bad. Here’s hoping that the media filing complaints, or Congress, decides to press for some actual answers.

UPDATE 1 PM PT
Well, this just got a whole lot WORSE.

Despite the U.S. Department of Defense claiming yesterday in a Statement that while Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin was Hospitalized beginning on Monday he was still able to “Act using his Powers as Secretary”, it has now been Revealed that he had been in the Intensive Care… pic.twitter.com/DaqUfY4kEr

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 6, 2024

Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Lloyd Austin has been in the ICU, definitely NOT able to do his job, and Deputy Secretary Hicks can apparently telecommute from Puerto Rico because HEY, it’s not like Secretary of Defense is a hands-on job or anything…

And we also have an answer about who got notified. Not Congress! This is not going to make them particularly happy. It also raises the question of what ELSE the administration is concealing regarding health issues. *coughcough*Joe Biden*coughcough*

UPDATE 5 PM PT
Holy shit, the Pentagon didn’t even bother to tell the White House???

The Pentagon did not tell President Joe Biden and other top officials about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization for three days, three U.S. officials said.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior White House aides didn’t know of Austin’s Jan. 1 hospitalization until the Defense Department sent over word Jan. 4, two other U.S. officials said. Sullivan informed Biden shortly after DOD’s Thursday notification.

The officials said it was highly unlikely that Austin conveyed word to Biden privately before Sullivan’s briefing. “If Jake didn’t know, no way the president knew,” one of them said. “Who would have told him of Austin’s condition if not Jake? And if someone did tell the president, Jake would’ve been his first call.”

The news of Austin’s situation came as a shock to all White House staff as they were unaware the Pentagon boss was dealing with complications following an elective medical procedure, the officials said. National Security Council staffers were surprised it took the Pentagon so long to let them know of Austin’s status. The Pentagon didn’t make the information public until Friday evening, notifying Congress about 15 minutes before releasing a public statement.

“This should not have happened this way,” said one of the U.S. officials. The NSC and Pentagon declined comment.

In a Saturday statement after an earlier version of this story published, Austin said, “I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”

I don’t think I can believe Austin had the final say on what happened, even though he might be wanting to take the responsibility now. The man was in ICU – how do we know what decisions he was able to make since he was hospitalized???

Senator Tom Cotton, who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a veteran himself, is not happy.

My statement following reports that the @DeptofDefense failed to disclose that Secretary Austin was hospitalized: pic.twitter.com/YjL4jSZURI

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 6, 2024

Someone made a decision to keep this quiet, and it wasn’t Austin. Are enough people in the Executive Branch and in Congress angry enough to demand answers?

Featured photo: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, official 2023 portrait by Chad J. McNeeley for the U.S. Department of Defense, public domain