{"id":13756,"date":"2024-01-09T01:46:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T01:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/09\/top-republicans-call-for-briefing-from-pentagon-on-austins-hospitalization\/"},"modified":"2024-01-09T01:46:25","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T01:46:25","slug":"top-republicans-call-for-briefing-from-pentagon-on-austins-hospitalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/09\/top-republicans-call-for-briefing-from-pentagon-on-austins-hospitalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Republicans call for briefing from Pentagon on Austin\u2019s hospitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called on the Pentagon to provide transparency surrounding Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin\u2019s \u2018secret\u2019 hospitalization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I am glad to hear Secretary Austin is in improved condition and I wish him a speedy recovery. However, the fact remains that the Department of Defense deliberately withheld the Secretary of Defense\u2019s medical condition for days. That is unacceptable. We are learning more every hour about the Department\u2019s shocking defiance of the law,\u2019 Wicker wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018When one of the country\u2019s two National Command Authorities is unable to perform their duties, military families, Members of Congress, and the American public deserve to know the full extent of the circumstances,\u2019 he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wicker added that \u2018Members must be briefed on a full accounting of the facts immediately.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I am concerned about his health and shocked that the Pentagon and White House have not been more forthcoming about his condition or why he remains hospitalized. It appears that even the President, his national security advisor, and the Deputy Secretary of Defense were unaware of Secretary Austin\u2019s hospitalization for at least three days,\u2019 Collins said in a statement Monday. \u2018Given the extremely serious military decisions that the United States is dealing with, including attacks on our troops by Iranian-backed proxies, the war in the Middle East, and the ongoing aggression by Russia in Ukraine, it is inexplicable that the Secretary\u2019s condition remains shrouded in secrecy.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

She added, \u2018I wish him a speedy recovery, but also believe that he must be forthcoming about the nature of his illness and his ability to do his job.\u2019<\/p>\n

Austin was hospitalized last Monday following complications from surgery, the Pentagon said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018On the evening of January 1, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for complications following a recent elective medical procedure,\u2019 Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The news about Austin was shared with the media on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u2018Worryingly, we now have more questions than answers,\u2019 Wicker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wicker inquired about the involvement of the Secretary of Defense\u2019s staff, the timing of the President\u2019s notification, and the reasons behind withholding information from the National Security Council. Wicker also asked the Pentagon about the extent of the Secretary\u2019s incapacitation due to surgery.<\/p>\n

\u2018The 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,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Ryder said that the hospitalization was kept from the press due to \u2018medical and personal privacy issues.\u2019<\/p>\n

Other congressional Republicans also requested additional information about Austin\u2019s hospitalization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a statement Saturday that Austin \u2018must address promptly the troubling report that the Department of Defense didn\u2019t immediately notify President Biden or the National Security Council that he was hospitalized and unable to perform his duties.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018The Secretary of Defense is the key link in the chain of command between the president and the uniformed military, including the nuclear chain of command, when the weightiest of decisions must be made in minutes,\u2019 he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The top lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee released a statement on Sunday evening calling for \u2018additional details\u2019 on Austin\u2019s condition and why notification was delayed.<\/p>\n

\u2018While we wish Sec. Austin a speedy recovery, we are concerned with how the disclosure of the Secretary\u2019s condition was handled,\u2019 Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said.<\/p>\n

Other reports indicate top White House and Pentagon officials were also unaware of Austin\u2019s hospitalization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 Liz Elkind contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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