The scandalous absence of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revealed the Biden administration's stunning lack of transparency, and it raised troubling questions about the lack of communication between Joe Biden and his cabinet members. According to reports, not even Joe Biden knew that his own Defense Secretary was incommunicado for four days. Given the troubled state of the world right now, it’s hard to imagine how the White House could have been unaware of Austin’s condition for so long.
According to the Associated Press, several top officials in the Biden administration, including the Pentagon and Congress, were unaware of Austin's hospitalization for several days, and neither the White House National Security Council nor key adviser Jake Sullivan were informed. Joe Biden wasn’t told about it until Thursday, and the administration didn't make Austin's absence public until the following evening.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called the secrecy of Austin’s absence a "shocking defiance of the law."
"When one of the country’s two National Command Authorities is unable to perform their duties, military families, Members of Congress, and the American public deserve to know the full extent of the circumstances," Wicker said in a statement. "This episode further erodes trust in the Biden Administration, which has repeatedly failed to inform the public in a timely fashion about critical events such as the Chinese spy balloon and the withdrawal from Afghanistan."
Related: Defense Secretary Austin Scandal Is Even Worse Than We Thought
“At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement.
Secretary Austin claims to have had an epiphany on the error of his ways.
“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” Austin said in a statement over the weekend. "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
It doesn’t matter that Austin took full responsibility; this was a disturbing revelation that raises major concerns about how the Biden administration operates, and it requires accountability. For starters, many people on the right have called for the White House to fire Austin.
“Failed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty,” Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Monday. “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.”
There’s no doubt that Austin ought to be fired over this, but he won’t be. It’s not even an option for Biden. Why? For the same reason that he was never going to ditch Kamala Harris, despite many calls to do so. The reason is that Lloyd Austin is “historic” in that he’s the first black Secretary of Defense.
You know how important identity politics is to Biden, and he’s not about to let go of one of his “diverse” cabinet members. Biden has made his affirmative action administration a key part of his pandering to minority voters, and since polls show that his standing with minorities is already in trouble, he's not going to risk being the guy who fired the first black secretary of defense.
Trust me, accountability is not coming for Lloyd Austin.
