Biden Faults Austin for Judgment Lapse, but Says He Still Has Faith in Him

President Biden said on Friday that he maintained confidence in Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, but faulted him for not notifying the White House for days this month about his hospitalization after complications from prostate cancer surgery.

Mr. Biden made the succinct remarks, his first in-person comments on a matter that has raised grave questions about national security and the chain of command, in response to reporters’ shouted questions as he toured small businesses in Pennsylvania.

“I do,” Mr. Biden told reporters when asked if he still had faith in the secretary’s leadership. Asked whether it was a lapse in judgment for Mr. Austin not to have notified him sooner, Mr. Biden responded, “Yes.”

Mr. Austin, 70, was hospitalized and put in intensive care on Jan. 1 after experiencing complications from a surgery he underwent on Dec. 22; the procedure was a prostatectomy, in which part or all of the prostate is removed. But the Pentagon waited three and a half days to inform the White House of his most recent hospitalization, and White House officials said that they also did not know about the cancer diagnosis until this week.

In addition, Kathleen Hicks, the deputy defense secretary, was told on Jan. 2 while she was on vacation in Puerto Rico that the secretary’s power was being transferred to her, but officials have said it was not until days later that she was informed that Mr. Austin was in the hospital.

The communications breakdown left broad concerns about who could answer major national security questions during wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. It has also raised questions about the Defense Department’s competence and Mr. Austin’s credibility.

The White House had previously said Mr. Biden still had confidence