Former President Donald Trump said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "should be fired immediately" for the secrecy surrounding his hospital stay, during which President Joe Biden and senior administration officials were kept in the dark for three days.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., followed Trump on Monday in demanding Austin's resignation. Sen. Roger Wicker, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also wants answers as to why Austin was admitted to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Jan. 1 but nobody knew about it until Thursday, three days later.
"Failed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday night. "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 …"
The White House, however, said Monday that Biden has no intention of firing Austin, who first had a medical procedure on Dec. 22, according to the Pentagon, and went home a day later. But he was admitted on Jan. 1 after experiencing severe pain.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon's No. 2 leader, was among the senior officials who had no knowledge of Austin's whereabouts until Thursday. Austin's secret hospitalization has raised questions about the chain of command for the airstrike that U.S. forces carried out in Baghdad on Thursday, killing Abu Taqwa of Harakat al-Nujaba and another Shi'ite militiaman. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was also notified of Austin's illness on Thursday, the same day as the airstrike.
Queried by Newsmax, a senior administration official said: "The authority for the strike was given by POTUS days in advance. Because it was a dynamic strike (not a fixed target) the Centcom commander had permission to take the strike when the conditions were optimal. He didn't need to come back and ask permission again."
Austin returned to work Friday while still in the hospital, the Pentagon said.
"At this dangerous time when American service members are under attack in Iraq and Syria, our closest partner and ally Israel is at war with Hamas terrorists, and the threat from Communist China is on the rise, it is critical that the Secretary of Defense has the full trust of the American people, Congress, and the White House," Stefanik said Monday in her statement. "This concerning lack of transparency exemplifies a shocking lack of judgment and a significant national security threat."