President Joe Biden on Friday said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had a lapse in judgement by not notifying him of his hospitalization, but White House officials made a point in emphasizing Austin remains heavily involved in military decision making.
Touring an Allentown, Pennsylvania-area coffee shop, Biden was asked by reporters whether Austin’s delay in informing him about his treatment for prostate cancer showed a lapse in judgment.
“Yes,” Biden responded. But asked if he still maintains confidence in Austin, the president said: “I do.”
Still, White House officials said Austin had been heavily involved in the US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen as he approaches his second week in the hospital.
Austin’s role in the US airstrikes was “seamless,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday, though he was working from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“His participation was no different than it would be on any other given day, except that he was briefing the president on options and engaged in the discussions from the hospital,” Kirby said during a news briefing aboard Air Force One.
Kirby said Austin “was fully engaged as he would be in any other event.”
The defense secretary has been “very much in command of all issues,” a senior administration official who has spoken with Austin multiple times told CNN, coordinating the strikes while facing sharp questions about the initial lack of transparency related to his health.
Defense officials told CNN that Austin, who is hospitalized with complications from the treatment of prostate cancer, has access to everything he needs to fulfill his duties. Austin monitored Thursday’s strikes real-time from the hospital “with a full suite of secure communications,” an official said.
The US and UK-led…
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