White House Says ‘No Plan’ To Fire Defense Secretary After Secret Hospitalization

The White House said on Monday that there is “no plan” to fire Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the top military leader waited several days before informing the public, Congress, Pentagon officials and even the president that he is being hospitalized.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC spokesman John Kirby said that President Joe Biden still has “complete confidence” in Austin, despite the secretary’s stunning lack of communication about his medical status.

“The president’s No. 1 focus is on the secretary’s recovery and he looks forward to having him back at the Pentagon as soon as possible,” Kirby said. “The president respects the fact that Secretary Austin took ownership for the lack of transparency. He also respects the amazing job he’s done as defense secretary.”

“There is no plan for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job,” he continued, adding that the White House will “take a look at the process and procedure here and try to learn from this experience” and see “if there are changes that need to be made.”

Austin was admitted to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 after experiencing complications related to an earlier elective surgery. Despite remaining hospitalized all week, many top government leaders — including Biden — were not informed of his condition until Thursday.

The Pentagon disclosed Austin’s hospitalization to the public and Congress on Friday, resulting in swift backlash over the secret nature of a top military leader’s medical status while the country faces multiple national security crises. The department’s second-in-command, Kathleen Hicks, wasonly informed of