Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives are demanding more information on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s hospitalization and why it was kept under wraps for days before it was finally announced.<\/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
\u2018Several questions remain unanswered including what the medical procedure and resulting complications were, what the Secretary\u2019s current health status is, how and when the delegation of the Secretary\u2019s responsibilities were made, and the reason for the delay in notification to the President and Congress.<\/p>\n
\u2018Transparency is vitally important. Sec. Austin must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for a response.<\/p>\n
GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the No. 3 House Republican, on Monday morning called for Austin\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is shocking and absolutely unacceptable that the Department of Defense waited multiple days to notify the President, the National Security Council, and the American people that Defense Secretary Austin was hospitalized and unable to perform his duties,\u2019 Stefanik said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018This concerning lack of transparency exemplifies a shocking lack of judgment and a significant national security threat. There must be full accountability beginning with the immediate resignation of Secretary Austin and those that lied for him and a Congressional investigation into this dangerous dereliction of duty.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Pentagon publicly revealed on Friday that Austin was in the hospital due to complications from elective surgery. He had been there since the start of the week.<\/p>\n
But a Politico report later revealed that not only were media kept in the dark, but that the highest levels of the White House and top officials in the Pentagon itself were not aware until Thursday Austin was in the hospital.<\/p>\n
Democrat Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., wrote on X Sunday evening, \u2018I serve on the House Armed Services Committee and share the concerns of Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Smith.\u2019<\/p>\n\n
Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives are demanding more information on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s hospitalization and why it was kept under wraps for days before it was finally announced. 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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}