Senate Republicans demand timeline of Austin’s medical absence 

Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Wednesday demanding the Pentagon provide a detailed timeline of events related to his “incapacitation” and hospitalization due to complications from prostate surgery. 

The GOP lawmakers criticized Austin’s Jan. 6 statement taking full responsibility for failing to provide adequate notification of his absence as “insufficient.”  

“We are deeply troubled by the apparent breakdown in communications between your office and the rest of the Department of Defense, the White House, and Congress over the past two weeks,” they wrote.  

They said the failure to immediately inform the president, Congress and the Comptroller General of the United States of the medical emergency violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.  

“The apparent failure to even notify your lawful successor in this case is a massive failure of judgment and negligence. It is an intolerable breach of trust with the American people at a dangerous moment for U.S. national security,” they wrote.  

The senators are asking to know when Austin underwent his medical procedure and “the nature” of that procedure. 

They also want to know when he was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Center and when he was put in the Intensive Care Unit. More specifically, GOP senators are demanding to know why he was transported by ambulance instead of his security deal. 

The GOP senators are pressing for details on the exact timing of Austin’s incapacitation and who was notified of it at that time.  

And they want to know if the officials notified of the medical emergency made any decisions on Austin’s behalf.  

They asserted that Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who was the acting department head during Austin’s absence, had a duty to immediately report the vacancy to Congress. 

“However, the Department of Defense did not notify Congress until four days later, after the vacancy had already ended,” they wrote, noting Hicks didn’t immediately inform President Biden or the National Security Council of the situation. 

“Either Secretary Hicks did not fulfill the statute, or someone else at the Department of Defense withheld information from her that would have allowed her to fulfill the statute. Such disregard for clear statutory requirements is unacceptable,” they wrote.  

The letter was signed by Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), the senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).