Following Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's undisclosed hospital stay, former President Donald Trump said President Joe Biden should terminate the Pentagon chief.
The former president called on Biden to terminate the Secretary of Defense in a Sunday post to Truth Social.
"Failed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty," Trump wrote. "He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was, or might be."
"He has performed poorly, and should have been dismissed long ago," Trump continued, "along with 'General' Mark Milley, for many reasons, but in particular the catastrophic surrender in Afghanistan, perhaps the most embarrassing moment in the history of our Country!"
Last week, Austin was hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Center over complications from an elective surgery. However, the Secretary of Defense did not notify the White House, Congress, or the National Security Council of his hospitalization until Jan. 4. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was tapped to assume Austin's responsibilities, though Hicks too was unaware of Austin's hospitalization.
On Saturday, Austin released a statement on his hospitalization thanking the nursing staff at Walter Reed for their care and warmth towards him and his family.
"I also appreciate all the outreach and well wishes from colleagues and friends. Charlene and I are very grateful for your support," he wrote. "I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon."
Austin said he recognized "media concerns" about "transparency" and conceded he could have "done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed."
"I commit to doing better," the defense secretary wrote and added, "this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure."
Top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said Austin's failure to notify Congress of his hospitalization was "unacceptable" and a "shocking defiance of the law."
“Worryingly, we now have more questions than answers. Why was the notification process under 5 U.S.C. 3349 not followed and who made the determination not to follow it? What role did the Secretary of Defense’s staff play? When exactly was the President notified?” Wicker said in a statement. “What justification did the Department have for withholding information from the National Security Council? To what extent was the Secretary incapacitated by his surgery?”
“The very fact that we have none of this information is an indictment of an administration which consistently holds Congressional authority on national defense matters in contempt,” Wicker added.Loading...
