A House panel announced on Tuesday a “formal inquiry” into the secretive hospitalization of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that has alarmed much of Washington.
The Armed Services Committee said letters were sent to Austin, his deputy Kathleen Hicks, and Austin’s chief of staff Kelly Magsamen, requesting information on what transpired over the past few weeks. Word of the inquiry got out in the hours after doctors revealed the reason Austin had been hospitalized — for complications following a procedure to treat prostate cancer — and officials conceded the White House did not even know the “root cause” of the hospitalization until earlier on Tuesday.
“My colleagues and I have grave concerns about the handling of your absence and hospitalization. It is unacceptable that neither the Department of Defense (“Department”), the White House, nor the Congress were accurately…
