Congress is attempting to get Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify about his recent, undisclosed hospitalizations.
According to Fox News, the House Armed Services Committee asked Austin to testify in a letter that it sent to him on Thursday.
The letter was sent by the committee's chairman, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL).
Rogers, in the letter, calls for "direct testimony" from Austin.
In the letter, Rogers not only calls for Austin to provide congressional testimony, but the congressman explains why he believes that such testimony is necessary.
Rogers wrote:
This is a time of immense global instability. Maintaining the most ready and lethal force possible requires that everyone in the national security community be able to rely upon the Secretary of Defense’s availability and transparency. Regrettably, you have not exhibited these attributes throughout this most recent string of events.
Rogers added, "Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary."
In the letter, Rogers does indicate that Austin has already complied with some of Rogers' requests for information. But, Rogers also indicates that Austin has refused to comply with other requests.
Rogers wrote:
While you did respond to some of my questions I had for you, a concerning number of questions were not addressed. Specifically, I am alarmed you refused to answer whether you instructed your staff to not inform the President of the United States or anyone else of your hospitalization. Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that information is being withheld from Congress.
This comes after Austin - the Secretary of Defense of the United States - reportedly underwent two hospitalizations and a surgery without notifying either the White House or the Pentagon.
The Washington Post reports, "The situation has garnered significant interest and sparked controversy, after it was revealed Austin underwent two hospitalizations and surgery after a prostate cancer diagnosis but had not notified the White House or key Pentagon officials."
It has been reported that President Joe Biden and the White House did not know about the hospitalizations until Jan. 4, 2024, and that they did not know about Austin's cancer diagnosis until Jan. 9, 2024. We now know that the cancer diagnosis was in early December, the surgery occurred on Dec. 22, and the latest hospitalization was in early January.
Up until now, there are still many unanswered questions about this situation. Rogers, clearly, is trying to get some of these questions answered.
Austin, at the time of this writing, has yet to indicate whether or not he is going to comply with Rogers' request for testimony. A hearing is currently scheduled for Feb. 14.
