The U.S. deputy protection secretary and the army high brass didn’t have preliminary data of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization, CNN reported late Sunday.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was not notified till two days later that Austin had been admitted on New Year’s Day to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, CNN reported Sunday citing two unidentified protection officers.
Reuters reported on Saturday that President Joe Biden was solely knowledgeable of the hospitalization on Thursday night, in line with a U.S. official, talking on situation of anonymity. The Pentagon mentioned in an announcement on Sunday that Austin spoke with Biden on Saturday.
Austin sits slightly below Biden on the high of the chain of command of the U.S. army and his duties require him being accessible at a second’s discover to reply to any method of nationwide safety disaster.
Austin, who’s 70, mentioned in an announcement on Saturday that he took “full responsibility” for the secrecy surrounding an ongoing, weeklong hospitalization for a nonetheless unspecified medical situation.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon mentioned Austin stays within the hospital and is “recovering well,” noting that he resumed his full duties on Friday night.
The Pentagon additionally mentioned Austin has been involved with Hicks, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown and his senior workers however didn’t say when he can be launched from the hospital.
Politico reported that Brown didn’t study of Austin’s hospitalization till Tuesday.
The Pentagon spokesperson declined to touch upon when Hicks and Brown realized of Austin’s hospitalization.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken mentioned throughout a press convention Sunday that he “wasn’t aware of his medical issue” and had spoken to Austin final weekend.
“I’m very much looking forward to seeing him fully recovered and working side by side,” Blinken mentioned.
It stays unclear the extent to which his duties have been delegated to Hicks, or whether or not Austin was concerned in any key choices throughout his absence.
The Pentagon has but to element why Austin is being handled or whether or not he misplaced consciousness over the previous week.
Democratic Representative James Clyburn advised CNN on Sunday that he had been advised Austin is “now in charge of things as he was before the illness” and that he did not assume the shortage of disclosure was a dereliction of responsibility.
“He does have a duty to keep the public informed, and I don’t know whether it was him or somebody inside of the military establishment that decided to do it this way, but I’m sure he will do a little better going forward, as he said he would,” Clyburn mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com