Even as the White House assures everyone that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s job is secure after going AWOL from Monday through Friday, the search is on for someone to take one for the team.
The public relations disaster Ausitn’s staff handed to the Biden White House on Friday just keeps growing. It started out with the admission that Austin has been hospitalized from New Year’s Day through Friday due to “complications” from a yet undefined “elective medical procedure.” Congress learned about his absence from duty at the same time as the rest of us.
At first, many of us took this as Austin just sticking his thumb in the eye of Congress. Then, another detail emerged. Austin had not merely been in the hospital; he had been in the intensive care unit while the deputy secretary of Defense was on vacation in Puerto Rico. And, by the way, unlike the Friday DOD announcement…
