By The FirstThe White House descended into chaos over the weekend after multiple outlets confirmed Joe Biden was completely unaware that the Secretary of Defense was in the ICU for at least three days.
The Secretary of State was also unaware of his hospitalization.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spent time in an intensive care unit after entering a military hospital on New Year’s Day, but President Biden wasn’t informed of his hospital stay for days, administration officials said Saturday.
Austin remains at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center but has now resumed his full responsibilities, the Pentagon said.
Biden spoke by phone with Austin on Saturday evening for the first time since he was hospitalized and expressed his “full confidence” in his defense chief, White House officials said.
But the question that consumed many officials in Washington on Saturday was why it took so long for the Pentagon to inform the commander-in-chief of the status of the cabinet official tasked with leading U.S. defense policy.
The Pentagon acknowledged publicly for the first time late Friday afternoon that Austin, 70 years old, has been hospitalized since Jan. 1 for complications following what it described as an “elective medical procedure.”
The National Security Council wasn’t informed about Austin’s condition until Thursday, a development earlier reported by Politico. At that point, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Biden, a U.S. official said.
