White House told DOD to send first statement on Austin’s hospitalization

The White House instructed the Pentagon to release its first statement about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization after learning there was no disclosure plan in place, two senior administration officials said, adding a new layer to the Pentagon’s timeline for how it eventually released information held quiet for days.

Austin was hospitalized on Jan. 1 following complications from a cancer treatment procedure. Defense Department Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen informed national security adviser Jake Sullivan of Austin’s condition for the first time three days later. Sullivan and White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients then urged the Pentagon’s senior leaders to quickly make a public statement about Austin’s situation, said the officials, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

This would indicate that Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of Defense, wasn’t the initiator of the Pentagon’s public statement, as a senior defense official previously told reporters. Austin’s authorities were transferred to Hicks off and on before she learned of his condition. When she was finally informed on Jan. 4, that senior defense official said Hicks immediately engaged staff on the drafting of a public statement and congressional outreach.

However, the two senior administration officials said the White House pushed the Pentagon to send out a news release once they learned DOD wasn’t working on one. Sullivan and Zients called Magsamen on Thursday, telling her it was vital a public statement about Austin's hospitalization go out as soon as possible.

The Pentagon blasted its announcement Friday, only moments after informing senior Pentagon officials and lawmakers.

Pentagon spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Austin’s team has come under intense scrutiny for failing to tell the White House and senior Pentagon staff about Austin’s situation for three days. The criticism intensified after doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center revealed Austin received a prostate cancer diagnosis in early December — but President Joe Biden only found out this Tuesday. Both men spoke on the phone last Saturday, a cordial conversation where Austin failed to tell the president about his diagnosis, the White House confirmed.

Biden doesn’t want to fire Austin and has said he wouldn’t accept his resignation if offered. The secretary is recovering well and his prognosis is good, Walter Reed doctors said Tuesday. Austin has resumed his full duties while still in the hospital.

Sullivan and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer were scheduled to attend an event with Austin at Joint Base Myer last Thursday, the two senior administration officials said, adding it was shortly before that gathering that Sullivan learned where Austin was and why.

Republicans and Democrats are calling for an investigation into the lack of disclosures from the Pentagon. Magsamen has already ordered a 30-day review of the department’s notification policies, and Zients asked Cabinet members to look into their delegation authority practices.