A Democratic representative is calling for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign after hiding his cancer diagnosis from the president

• Recent reports revealed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on January 1.
• Furthermore, he withheld the hospitalization and cancer diagnosis from the White House for a month.
• On Wednesday, a House Democrat called on Austin to resign.

A Democratic congressman called for US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign following reports he hid a cancer diagnosis for a month from the Biden Administration.

Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Pennsylvania-based member who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, posted his message Wednesday afternoon on X.

"I have lost trust in Secretary Lloyd Austin's leadership of the Defense Department due to the lack of transparency about his recent medical treatment and its impact on the continuity of the chain of command," Deluzio said.

Reports emerged on January 5 that Austin had been hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center days prior following complications from an "elective medical procedure." In a recent press conference, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the White House didn't learn of Austin's New Year's hospitalization until January 4.

Kirby added that it wasn't until January 9 that the White House found out about Austin's prostate cancer diagnosis, approximately a month after the malady was discovered.

Deluzio's not the first member of Congress to call for Austin to resign, but it is noteworthy he is a Democrat. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference, suggested similarly on Monday. Many others, Democrats and Republicans alike, have also called on a formal investigation into the incident.

Over the weekend, Austin apologized for hiding his diagnosis and hospitalization from the president and American people for so long.

"I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better," he said. "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure."