Politics

Biden unaware of Pentagon chief’s cancer until Tuesday

Washington, Jan 9 (EFE). – The President of the United States, Joe Biden, was not informed until Tuesday morning that the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, had been hospitalized due to complications after surgery for prostate cancer.

John Kirby, White House spokesman, said in a press briefing that Biden’s chief of staff, Jeffrey D. Zients, was informed of Austin’s illness Tuesday morning and immediately relayed the details to the president.

Austin, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early December, did not share that information with the White House.

He also did not immediately inform Biden that he had been hospitalized on Jan. 1 until Jan. 4..

As a result, Biden did not know the reason for Austin’s hospitalization until Tuesday, Kirby said.

Doctors treating Austin at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington revealed the reasons for his admission in a statement Tuesday.

The hospitalization has been surrounded by controversy due to the lack of transparency from Austin, who took responsibility for what happened in a statement on Saturday.

The public was not informed of his hospitalization until after 5:00 pm local time on Friday, when most Washington institutions were closing for the weekend.

Members of the US Congress claim they received information about the hospitalization only minutes before the statement was released on Friday.

The controversy has prompted a review of protocols within the Pentagon and the White House to clarify how members of the executive branch should inform the president when they are unable to perform their duties and how they should delegate their responsibilities.

Austin, 70, remains hospitalized and the Defense Department has not said when he might be released. EFE bpm/mcd

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