Al Bilad newspaper The US Secretary of Defense is being questioned in Congress – 2024-02-29 12:35:19

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is being questioned in Congress, Thursday, because of his decision to keep the surgery he underwent to treat prostate cancer and his subsequent treatment in the hospital a secret, even from President Joe Biden and his deputy in the ministry.

Austin apologized for the way he handled the matter, including to Biden himself, but his appearance before the Armed Services Committee in the Republican-majority House of Representatives at 10 a.m. (15:00 GMT) will be the first time that members of the House have questioned him directly.

According to prepared remarks, Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers will say during the hearing: “It is completely unacceptable that it takes more than 3 days to inform the President that the Secretary of Defense is in the hospital and is not in control of the Pentagon.

He will add: “Wars were raging in Ukraine and Israel, our ships were under fire in the Red Sea, and our bases were preparing for attack in Iraq and Syria. But the Supreme Commander did not know that his Minister of Defense was off duty.”

Instead of revealing his health status, Austin chose to keep his initial surgery for prostate cancer in December, as well as his hospitalization later in January due to post-operative complications that landed him in the intensive care unit, a secret.

However, on Monday, the Ministry of Defense released the results of the internal review, which lasted 30 days and effectively cleared itself of any wrongdoing.

“Nothing examined during this review showed any indication of bad faith or attempt at obfuscation,” it concluded.

Rogers is expected to criticize the report for failing to provide real answers about who knows who failed to perform their basic duties, how and when.