Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin provides testimony in April 2022 on the fiscal 2023 defense budget during a House Armed Services Committee hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. (Jack Sanders/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — The House Armed Services Committee is calling on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify next month about why his recent hospitalization was initially kept secret from lawmakers and other top officials.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the chairman of the committee, said he spoke to Austin by phone after the defense secretary was hospitalized for complications from prostate cancer surgery but “a concerning number of questions were not addressed.”
“Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a Cabinet secretary,” Rogers wrote in a letter to Austin on Thursday.
Rogers said he was particularly alarmed by Austin’s refusal to answer whether he instructed his staff not to inform White House officials or anyone else of his admittance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Jan. 1.
“Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress,” he wrote.
Austin was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance after experiencing severe pain from a surgery on Dec. 22 to treat his cancer. The White House and the deputy defense secretary were not notified until Jan. 4 while lawmakers were kept in the dark until Jan. 5.
An Austin aide asked the ambulance picking up Austin at his home to arrive without lights and sirens because “we’re trying to remain a little subtle,” according to a 911 call obtained by news outlets this week.
Rogers in his letter wrote he wanted to know who made the request and whether Austin had directed the aide to ask emergency personnel for privacy. He also sent Austin a lengthy list of other unanswered questions.
“Your unwillingness to provide candid and complete answers necessitates calling a full committee hearing,” Rogers wrote.
The hearing has been set for Feb. 14. A similar hearing in the Democrat-led Senate has not been called, though some Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee have demanded one.
Austin was released from the hospital on Monday and has been working from home while he recovers.
The secrecy surrounding his hospitalization has prompted an internal review within the Pentagon as well as an investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general. About a dozen lawmakers, including one Democrat, have called for Austin to resign over the incident.
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