‘Let’s face it, they dodged a bullet’ — Leon Panetta explained what exactly went wrong for Lloyd Austin


One of the most immediate fallouts of the Lloyd Austin saga will come tomorrow, when all Cabinet agencies must submit their procedures for delegating authority to the White House.

They will do so in response to an order from chief of staff Jeff Zients, who demanded as much after the Defense secretary’s secret hospitalization sparked questions about transparency and ensuring lines of succession.

To break down this particular element of an ever-expanding story, West Wing Playbook called Leon Panetta, who served both as White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton and secretary of Defense under Barack Obama. This conversation has been edited for length.


What’s gone through your mind has you’ve followed this story?

Lloyd Austin has done a great job as secretary of Defense. He’s had to deal with a lot of critical issues and be on the road dealing with our allies pretty much full time. But it’s precisely because he’s important to our national security, and a key part of the chain of command, that I think it’s very important for him to have notified the president, the national security team, and obviously the public if in any way he’s incapacitated.

He’s accepted responsibility and said he’s going to do a better job. Look, I’ve been in and out of Washington for over 50 years. There’s a lesson that is always very hard to learn in Washington, which is that you're always better off telling the truth. And if you in any way try to avoid it, the truth is eventually going to come out. And........

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