Jeffries says Lloyd Austin should not resign

Amid a firestorm of controversy on Capitol Hill over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the defense chief shouldn’t step aside.

“I do not believe Secretary Austin should resign,” he told reporters Thursday.

Jeffries said he needed more information before he could fully comment on how House Democrats would approach the matter, but that he looked forward to being briefed by the Biden administration “on the steps they’ve put in place moving forward” to rectify the issues in the chain of command.