Lloyd Austin grilled by Republicans over ‘embarrassment’ of handling of secret hospital stay

Republicans accused Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of causing an international “embarrassment” on Thursday at a polarised hearing of the House Armed Services Committee called to examine the communications breakdown resulting from Mr Austin’s recent hospitalisation.

Mr Austin maintained that command and control authority had always been in the hands of an appropriate authority during his hospital stay while admitting to responsibilty for a failure to properly notify the White House, Congress, and the American public when his duties had been discharged to a deputy.

The US defence chief, 70, underwent treatment for prostate cancer after being hospitalised on 1 January. He was released after a roughly two-week stay, and later underwent a second, shorter visit to Walter Reed Medical Center in February for a “bladder issue”. His first hospital stay evolved into an awkward situation for the White House as it was revealed that President Joe Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan had not been notified that Mr Austin was in the hospital until several days had passed.

The GOP lawmakers on the committee, led by Chairman Jim Banks, accused Mr Austin of allowing America to appear weak in the eyes of Chinese and Russian adversaries. Democrats on the panel disputed this, and accused their Republican colleagues of parroting propaganda from those same countries.

“Mr Secretary, who will be held accountable for this embarrassment?” Mr Banks asked, prompting Mr Austin to note that he took full responsibility for his actions. He went on to quote two “leading” propaganda outfits in China and Russia which portrayed the situation as signs of “chaos” within the US government.

“Our adversaries should fear us. What you’ve done is embarrassed us,” the chairman went on to claim.

His remarks were largely followed by emotionless acknowledgements from the Pentagon chief and were more directly refuted by Democrats on the panel, who rallied to Mr Austin’s defence.

Ranking Democratic member Adam Smith dismissed the idea that the US government had truly faced any kind of embarrassment on the world stage due to Mr Austin’s actions.

“It's not surprising to me, the Chinese and the Russians are not going to say anything positive about us,” he said. “That doesn't come as a surprise to me. They seize on every opportunity to attack the United States. So I don't really take their word for what was going on.”

Mr Austin addressed his hospital stay and shortcomings in notifying the White House at a press conference following his release on 1 February, and at the time offered a full apology.

“I want to be crystal clear. We did not handle this right and I did not handle this right.,” the secretary told assembled reporters. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility.”