World News | Pentagon Watchdog Will Review Defence Secretary Austin's Failure to Disclose Hospitalisation
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The Pentagon's internal watchdog said on Thursday he will review the secrecy surrounding Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalisation and why the Defence Department waited days to inform the White House that he had transferred authority to his deputy.
Washington, Jan 11 (AP) The Pentagon's internal watchdog said on Thursday he will review the secrecy surrounding Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalisation and why the Defence Department waited days to inform the White House that he had transferred authority to his deputy.
Austin, 70, is still in the hospital being treated for complications from prostate cancer surgery. His failure to disclose his hospitalisation has been sharply criticised by members of both political parties and has led to some calls for his resignation.
In a memorandum to Austin and other top officials, Inspector General Robert P. Storch said his review would "examine the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions" related to his hospitalisation.
He said he would assess whether the Pentagon policies and procedures "are sufficient to ensure timely and appropriate notifications and the effective transition of authorities as may be warranted due to health-based or other unavailability of senior leadership,”
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Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre on December 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer, which was detected earlier in the month during a routine screening. He developed an infection a week later and was hospitalised on January 1 and admitted to intensive care.
President Joe Biden and senior administration officials were not told about Austin's hospitalisation until January 4, and Austin kept the cancer diagnosis secret until Tuesday.
Both the White House and Pentagon previously announced they are conducting their own reviews. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)