UPDATE: It was revealed yesterday that Secretary Austin underwent a prostatectomy on December 22 to address his prostate cancer. He returned to the hospital on Jan. 1 after experiencing complications related to this surgery. Doctors drained fluid from his stomach to solve the problem, and he is currently recovering well. While he has been moved out of the ICU, he remains in the hospital.

The Secretary of Defense had surgery without informing his staff or his superiors, and ended up in ICU. Who was leading the critical DoD for the most powerful nation on earth during this time? How could this happen?

From Breitbart. Washington remained in collective shock on Sunday, as more information trickled out about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin being admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit for days and failing to disclose it to the president, the national security adviser, members of Congress, and the public.

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The lack of disclosure raised serious questions not just for Austin and his judgment, but also for President Joe Biden and how he could have been unaware that his defense secretary was partially incapacitated for several days — especially as military confrontation between U.S. troops and Iran-backed proxy groups is heating up in the Middle East. …

The U.S. had just last Wednesday warned Houthis to stop targeting U.S. military and commercial ships in the Red Sea, and the next day, the U.S. military conducted a drone strike that killed an Iran-backed militia leader in Iraq — raising questions now as to who ordered that strike.

Adding to the fiasco has been the Pentagon refusing to say why Austin was admitted to the hospital, citing a desire for “privacy.”

Austin on Saturday himself issued a statement saying he understood the media concerns about transparency and conceded he could have done a “better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed.” …

However, the statement did not explain why he had not told Biden, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. And a continuous drip of revelations has come out over the weekend, each seemingly worse than the one before.

On Saturday, CNN reported that Austin had not even told his own deputy — Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks — that he was hospitalized until Thursday, January 4, despite transferring some of his duties to her on January 2. …

Some DOD officials were reportedly told by Austin’s aides that he was working from home.

The lack of transparency has prompted outrage from Republicans and Democrats. …

Senators also raised questions over who was in charge of giving U.S. military orders while Austin was in the hospital — an authority referred to as National Command Authority, which is given to the president and the defense secretary. …

The public first learned of Austin’s hospitalization after Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder sent out a statement to the press around 6 p.m. ET on Friday, January 5, which said Austin had been admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for “complications following a recent elective medical procedure” on the evening of January 1. The Pentagon said he was “expecting to resume his full duties” that day.

Politico then reported that Austin did not inform National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan he was in the hospital until Thursday, January 4, and then reported shortly after that it was Sullivan who told Biden that Austin was in the hospital.

Hicks made “some routine decisions” on behalf of Austin, a spokesperson told the Hill. …

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(Excerpt from Breitbart. Photo Credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense – 231112-D-TT977-1260, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)