Why it’s a big deal that the president didn’t know his defense secretary was in the hospital for three days.
Even the most powerful people in the world are still humans with bodies and families. They sometimes need to take time off, whether for medical reasons, personal matters, or just to recharge. But the people who rely on them still need to know where they are.
That’s the issue at hand with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s days-long disappearance last week. The secretary was hospitalized and placed in intensive care on January 1, but the public wasn’t informed until three days later — and, even more surprisingly, neither was Austin’s ultimate boss, President Joe Biden.
That’s a shockingly long time given Austin’s job as head of the $800 billion Defense Department, one whose command of the US military is second only to the president and who is sixth in line for presidential succession.
“The secretary of defense plays a crucial role in the chain of command,” Peter Feaver, a Duke University professor and former White House National Security Council (NSC) staffer who studies civil-military relations, told Vox. “He’s the civilian in control of national security 24/7. That’s an important function in a republic. It’s important in the way that even some of the other Cabinet secretaries are not.”
Austin, who the Pentagon finally said on Tuesday was admitted to the ICU for complications from prostate surgery treatment, is now back on the job, and for the moment the White House says it intends to keep him there. (Though NSC spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday that the White House also did not know Austin had prostate cancer until this morning, a situation he termed “not optimal.”) But the press and members of Congress are continuing to demand answers, with some calling for Austin’s resignation.
As it faces these questions, the administration is already stretched trying to manage American involvement in two raging wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and is facing a tough reelection battle in the coming year. A centerpiece of Biden’s argument for reelection has been to contrast the professionalism and dependability of his team, particularly on national security, with the chaos of Donald Trump’s term in office.
But it’s hard not to view the lack of communication around Austin’s absence as anything but chaotic, and this apparent national security own-goal could not have come at a worse time for the White House and the Pentagon.The silent general
A retired four-star general, Austin has been secretary of defense since the beginning of Biden’s term. He had a distinguished military career that included combat commands in Iraq and Afghanistan and a three-year stint as commander of Central Command, overseeing US military activity in the Middle East and South Asia.
Austin’s appointment made history, as he is the first Black secretary of defense. (Notably, while Black Americans are overrepresented in the military as a whole, they have been underrepresented in the senior ranks.) But it was also controversial because he had retired from active military service only five years earlier. Federal law prohibits military officers from becoming secretary of defense until seven years after they retire, unless granted a special waiver by Congress.
Austin was only the third secretary to be granted such a waiver but was the second in less than five years after Trump’s first secretary of defense, former Marine Gen. James Mattis. This led to some criticism that Biden was following in the former president’s footsteps, further eroding a norm intended to maintain civilian control over the military.
But Austin had had a close personal relationship with Biden. The president’s late son, Beau, served on Austin’s staff in Iraq. Still, while Austin frequently represents US policy on national security crises to both the media and foreign governments, he’s also known as a very private person — he was reportedly nicknamed “the silent general” in military circles — who shares little about his personal life with either friends or colleagues. And this desire for privacy is what may have gotten him into trouble. The SecDef vanishes
The imbroglio began on December 22 when Austin underwent an elective medical procedure — later revealed to be treatment for prostate cancer — which required him to stay overnight at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
