Pentagon IG to review botched reveal of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalization

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon Inspector General will investigate the events surrounding the secret hospitalization of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

Austin’s failure to promptly notify members of his own staff, the White House, Congress and the public about his cancer diagnosis and stay in intensive care has generated bipartisan outrage.

Austin underwent surgery under general anesthesia for prostate cancer Dec. 22 and transferred his authority to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. On Jan. 1, an ambulance rushed him back to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after he complained of severe pain. Doctors admitted him to the intensive care unit, where he remained for four days. He transferred authority to Hicks on Jan. 2 without telling her he was hospitalized, and also failed to notify the White House.

It wasn’t until Tuesday that Austin, 70, revealed to the White House and the public that he had cancer. He remains at Walter Reed after fighting a serious infection.

The inspector general’s review follows an announcement Monday by his chief of staff that a new procedure requires Austin to notify senior Defense officials and the White House when he transfers authority to his deputy. The White House followed suit, requiring all cabinet secretaries to make similar notifications.

The Pentagon Inspector General’s review will assess whether Defense Department “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,” according to a statement Thursday from Reishia Kelsey, deputy inspector general.

Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee sent a letter Wednesday to Austin alleging that his failure to notify the White House and other senior officials broke the law.

The letter, released by the ranking member of the committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississipi, called "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."

Leon Panetta, a former chief of staff and Defense secretary in Democratic administrations, told USA TODAY that Austin's failure to keep President Joe Biden informed of his illness was an embarrassment and that he took a "hell of a risk."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pentagon Inspector General investigates Lloyd Austin