Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shown at a Senate hearing in January 2021. A Defense Department inspector general’s report released Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, found Austin is responsible for the Pentagon neglecting to tell Congress and the White House that the former Army general was incapacitated last year due to treatment for prostate cancer. (EJ Hersom/Defense Department photo)

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is responsible for the Pentagon neglecting to tell Congress and the White House that the former Army general was incapacitated last year due to treatment for prostate cancer as his office is required to do, the agency’s watchdog concluded in a report released Wednesday.

Austin came under scrutiny last year for failing to disclose his cancer and complications that led to an extended hospital stay. A report issued by the Defense Department’s inspector general faults Austin for communication failures in which his hospitalization was kept secret for days, including from President Joe Biden.

“I wish [Secretary Austin] were a normal person, but he’s the [defense secretary]. We have a big institutional responsibility. He can’t just go totally dark on his staff. … Please pass to him that we can’t keep his hospitalization a secret forever. It’s kind of big deal for him to be in the [surgical intensive care unit]. And I’m worried sick,” then-chief of staff Kelly Magsamen wrote in texts to Austin’s junior military assistant.

Austin was first diagnosed with cancer in December 2023, with his hospital stay stretching into January. By February, the defense secretary took responsibility for secrecy about his illness.

“I want to be crystal clear; we did not handle this right. I did not handle this right,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon in February. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have told my team and the American people, and I take full responsibility.”

The inspector general’s yearlong investigation found Austin’s strong desire for privacy likely influenced his staff in deciding not to prod further into his condition. To date, no one on Austin’s staff has been singled out as responsible for the failure.

The IG report points to Austin for not informing Congress or the White House of his initial treatment in December 2023 for prostate cancer and not telling his staff or the White House of his worsening complications on Jan. 1, 2024, which led him to be taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The report states when Austin went for the initial medical procedure December 2023, he kept information private from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks; Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and nearly all his staff. He told one junior staff member, “if anyone had any questions, they’re more than welcome to ask [me] directly,” according to the report.

When Austin had to be transported by ambulance to Walter Reed on New Year’s Day, the report states the evidence based on contemporaneous statements and actions of those involved indicates Austin requested the ambulance not use lights and sirens and told his personal security officer, “We’re not notifying anybody.”

On Jan. 2, Austin transferred some of his more pressing responsibilities to Hicks.

The report states neither Austin nor Hicks “met the requirement to immediately notify the comptroller general and Congress of the vacancy” of the secretary’s office from Jan. 2 to Jan. 5.

At the time, Austin said he was experiencing fever, chills and shallow breathing on that day, and doctors decided to move him to the intensive care unit for several days of close monitoring.

Yet Biden did not learn of Austin’s prostate cancer until Jan. 9. That same day, the White House ordered all Cabinet members and secretaries must immediately notify the administration if at any time they cannot perform their duties.

“We believe that the combined impact of his condition and the complications from the Dec. 22 procedure, and the effects of his illness and treatment, particularly including his procedures on Jan. 6 and Jan. 8, should at least have prompted consideration by Secretary Austin and others as to whether his authorities should have been transferred to Deputy Secretary Hicks during periods of his hospitalization,” the report reads.

A separate internal review of the situation was conducted shortly after the situation. The Pentagon concluded in February that privacy restrictions and staff hesitancy as the reasons for the failure to notify the president and other U.S. officials about Austin’s prostate cancer and subsequent complications.

The internal review made eight recommendations that included ensuring key defense officials in the order of succession are familiar with relevant processes and procedures, as well as the department reviewing and updating internal reporting practices associated with the transfer of duties, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said at the time.

“There was no finding of ill-intent or an attempt to obfuscate,” Ryder said.

The inspector general’s investigation into Austin’s handling of his illness and hospitalization took a year to complete and was released just days before Austin is set to leave office on Jan. 20.

Two senior defense officials, who spoke to reporters Wednesday on the condition of anonymity, made a point to emphasize there was no cover-up by anyone in the department, and the IG report states there was no break in command at any time and the secretary was not incapacitated and unable to carry out his duties.

“The actual report says that there were no risks to see to, the report did not identify any adverse impacts on [Defense Department] functions and there was no evidence that the secretary experienced severe cognitive impairments during his time at Walter Reed … or otherwise unable to carry out his duties,” one official said.

The IG report made 20 recommendations to improve notifications within the department and other critical stakeholders, as well as the effective assumption of functions and duties by the deputy defense secretary or other senior department leaders in the chain of succession, according to the report.

Austin responded on Jan. 3 concurring with all 20 recommendations.