{"id":77620,"date":"2024-02-26T21:17:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T21:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/26\/confusion-lack-of-policy-led-to-austins-hospitalization-secret\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:44:40","slug":"confusion-lack-of-policy-led-to-austins-hospitalization-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/02\/26\/confusion-lack-of-policy-led-to-austins-hospitalization-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"Confusion, lack of policy led to Austin\u2019s hospitalization secret"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Defense Department found no wrongdoing in the events that led to the secrecy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s hospitalization<\/a> last month, according to details of a review<\/a> ordered by his chief of staff into how days passed without the president or Congress being notified that the Pentagon boss was incapacitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mixture of concerns about protecting Austin\u2019s privacy \u2014 and a lack of written policy for emergency hospitalizations \u2014 caused staff to balk when it came to informing the White House or Congress of the secretary\u2019s absence, while at the same time not informing the deputy defense secretary of why she was taking over authorities, according to an executive summary of the largely classified review released Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs this unclassified summary highlights, the secretary\u2019s team was faced with an unprecedented situation and so they executed a transfer of authority in the same way that they had previously done,\u201d Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon\u2019s press secretary, told reporters during a briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin\u2019s emergency hospitalization for a urinary tract infection<\/a> that developed following a late December procedure to treat his prostate cancer wasn\u2019t unprecedented, however. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates was rushed to the hospital in 2008 when he broke his shoulder <\/a>slipping on his icy front steps. The Pentagon confirmed the following day that he\u2019d had an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was unprecedented was that following Austin\u2019s ambulance ride on Jan. 1, it took his staff until Jan. 4 to notify the White House and Congress of his absence, and until the following day to put out a public statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin has taken the blame for the situation overall, saying that he did not want to \u201cburden\u201d the president with his early December cancer diagnosis, he told reporters during a Feb. 13 briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned from this experience, taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect,\u201d he said. \u201cThe American people have a right to know when their leaders are facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties, even temporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t