What Does the Hospitalization of SecDef Austin Mean
I wasn’t immediately disturbed by the news that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized for days and the media and public were unaware. I’m a strong believer in privacy and even though Austin is in a high-profile public office, he is still entitled to his privacy. As we learn more about this incident, however, and the fact that the National Security Advisor and White House we unaware of Austin’s absence, I have questions. There is now reporting the deputy secretary was on vacation in Puerto Rico and also may not have been aware of the situation.
The worries about nuclear command and control are a bit overstated but will likely be used as a line of attack by Republicans. The SecDef and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have an advisory role for nuclear employment, but the system can work without them. My concerns are practical and conceptual. The SecDef has had a decision maker role in air and ballistic defense delegated from the President. If there was an emergency, the SecDef has shoot down authority. I can only assume that there was a contingency for that scenario, especially in these perilous times. My bigger point is maybe a bit more conceptual. The SecDef was, according to reports, in the Intensive Care Unit. Why wasn’t this shared with the President and the National Security Advisor? There seems to be a glitch in the system where one of the most senior members of the administration was hospitalized in intensive care and other principal leaders are unaware for quite some time.
This small scandal may have some legs. More reporting is likely. I’m curious to see what we learn.
Why it Matters: The Secretary of Defense is the leader of the largest department in the whole of the government. He and the President are the National Command Authority for employing America’s most powerful weapons. The lack of transparency on his hospitalization and incapacitation is only beginning to be investigated, but will likely to lead to further criticism of the Biden Administration and tumult to an already very challenging 2024.
It is a concern, to be sure, that the White House was apparently unaware of his hospitalization. I can understand not wanting to tell the press, but everyone the chain of command should have been notified.
However, I'm much more concerned about that missing notebook, the months-long hiding (selling?) of boxes and boxes of national secrets, and that a cruel, unhinged man may again inhabit the Oval Office.
I am grateful that the situation is “under control” so to speak. However without knowing anything more than what has been made public, this was completely inexcusable. I had a “different life” before the one I am living now. I was in the family of a man who ran a Fortune 5 company (at that time). Multi national company - not a country - no military - no nuclear weapons. There would NEVER be a time that someone of that key status would be in intensive care and the higher ups not know about it. If NOTHING else his doctors should have been required (even under HIPAA) to report Sec. Austin’s condition to the President for exactly the reasons you have presented. The hospital staff and overall procedures MUST be evaluated. The threat is internal as well as external. I can not believe, having dealt with the powerful men I knew, for decades, (again these men ran car companies - not the largest MILITARY in the entire world!) that this was allowed to “happen”. It can’t again.