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Now it is Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s turn to be the designated piñata for so many of the pent-up grievances of the political class. He, admittedly, erred in not promptly notifying the White House and the public of his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer. Anyone who knows Austin knows that he is an intensely private person, and it is understandable that he wanted to keep details of his health condition to himself.
In this case, that was a mistake, as he has now acknowledged. Being a Cabinet officer, he has sacrificed the right of privacy enjoyed by ordinary patients. But his very human failing hardly warrants the degree of caterwauling we are now hearing, not only from Republicans but also from some independent analysts.
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Calls for Austin’s resignation are growing. Republicans are now adding Austin’s name to the long line of officeholders — from the president on down — who they want to impeach. The rhetorical escalation is occurring at an alarming rate: Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) claims that Austin “has been a disaster since Day One and should be replaced by someone who will focus on making the military ready to fight and win wars instead of advancing woke political causes.” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) calls this a “shocking defiance of the law” and says it “further erodes trust in the Biden administration.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) huffs: “If this report is true, there must be consequences for this shocking breakdown.”
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I wish I could say I am shocked by all this faux-shock, but in truth I’m not surprised in the slightest. This is the way of Washington: Republicans are bent on bringing down the Biden administration and they have a particular animus against the Defense Department, which they castigate, with no evidence, for supposed “wokeness.” Austin’s slip-up gives them an opening to attack, and they are charging like Napoleon’s cavalry into the breach.
Amid all this “Sturm und Drang,” it’s easy to lose sight of the key issue: Was there a breakdown in national command authorities? The defense secretary is in the chain of command for the use of military force. It runs from the president to the secretary to the commanders in the field (except in the case of nuclear weapons where the chain of command runs from the president straight to the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon). So was there a period of time while Austin was in the hospital, where, if an emergency had occurred necessitating the use of force, there was no one available to give the command?
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The Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, assured me on Wednesday that this was not the case: “At no time was there a gap in chain of command of Department of Defense command and control,” he said. “There was never any risk to national security.” According to Ryder, both times when Austin went into the hospital — first on Dec. 22 for his prostate cancer surgery and then again on Jan. 1 to deal with complications resulting from that surgery — “operational authorities” were duly transferred to the deputy defense secretary, Kathleen Hicks. If the United States or its forces had been attacked at that time, she could have given the order to respond, even from her Puerto Rico vacation. (Austin is still in the hospital, but on Jan. 5, he resumed operational command.)
Hicks has said that she didn’t realize until days later that Austin was in the hospital. It’s puzzling that Austin didn’t keep her better informed, but from what Ryder told me, it’s not uncommon to transfer operational authorities without giving the reason. Sometimes, he said, it’s for something as simple as the defense secretary traveling on an aircraft that lacks the full suite of communications capabilities to command and control U.S. forces worldwide. Ryder added that the secretary’s office has now changed its policy to ensure that it notifies everyone of why authorities are being temporarily transferred — not just when.
“We’ve all learned through this process,” Ryder told me. “Secretary Austin has taken full responsibility on the need to keep the public informed and we’re looking to do better. But this situation doesn’t change who Lloyd Austin is as a person. He’s still the same dedicated public servant, and he is just as committed to defending the country.”
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Indeed, we should all be grateful that Austin is the defense secretary after the tumult and chaos of the Trump years. President Donald Trump had five secretaries of defense (three of them “acting”), and he sent unqualified political hacks to try to take de facto control of the Defense Department. Gen. Mark A. Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, worried that Trump would try to stage a military coup.
Austin has restored a sense of calmness to the armed forces with his understated command presence. He has made clear that the military will uphold the Constitution, and he has sought to root out extremists in the military’s ranks, thereby earning himself the ire of the “Jan. 6 Party.” He hasn’t gotten everything right, but the biggest screw up on his watch — the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 — was not his fault. He warned President Biden against the pullout. But when Biden gave the order anyway, Austin executed it without leaking his disagreement to news organizations.
The world crises on Austin’s watch have played to his strengths. As a former Army general, he has been well positioned to marshal a vast coalition to help Ukraine survive the biggest invasion Europe has seen since 1945. And as a former head of U.S. Central Command, he has been well positioned to deal with the fallout from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, with the resulting rise in tensions between the United States and Iran and its proxies.
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As with many people, Austin’s greatest weakness is the flip side of his greatest strength. While it’s good that he is neither a show-boater nor a self-promoter, he can also be too private and too uncommunicative. That is what has now gotten him into trouble. But his failure to be more forthcoming about his health crisis should not negate all the good he has done — or lead Biden to throw him to the howling pack of wolves that are always ready to rip to shreds any officeholder in Washington.
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One of the most lamentable — and, to an outsider, inexplicable — features of Washington life is the political and press pile-on when some public figure has made a mistake, however minor. Before long, the Beltway cognoscenti are acting as if some soon-to-be-forgotten incident is a combination of Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-contra and Jan. 6, 2021, all wrapped into one.
Now it is Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s turn to be the designated piñata for so many of the pent-up grievances of the political class. He, admittedly, erred in not promptly notifying the White House and the public of his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer. Anyone who knows Austin knows that he is an intensely private person, and it is understandable that he wanted to keep details of his health condition to himself.
In this case, that was a mistake, as he has now acknowledged. Being a Cabinet officer, he has sacrificed the right of privacy enjoyed by ordinary patients. But his very human failing hardly warrants the degree of caterwauling we are now hearing, not only from Republicans but also from some independent analysts.
Calls for Austin’s resignation are growing. Republicans are now adding Austin’s name to the long line of officeholders — from the president on down — who they want to impeach. The rhetorical escalation is occurring at an alarming rate: Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) claims that Austin “has been a disaster since Day One and should be replaced by someone who will focus on making the military ready to fight and win wars instead of advancing woke political causes.” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) calls this a “shocking defiance of the law” and says it “further erodes trust in the Biden administration.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) huffs: “If this report is true, there must be consequences for this shocking breakdown.”
I wish I could say I am shocked by all this faux-shock, but in truth I’m not surprised in the slightest. This is the way of Washington: Republicans are bent on bringing down the Biden administration and they have a particular animus against the Defense Department, which they castigate, with no evidence, for supposed “wokeness.” Austin’s slip-up gives them an opening to attack, and they are charging like Napoleon’s cavalry into the breach.
Amid all this “Sturm und Drang,” it’s easy to lose sight of the key issue: Was there a breakdown in national command authorities? The defense secretary is in the chain of command for the use of military force. It runs from the president to the secretary to the commanders in the field (except in the case of nuclear weapons where the chain of command runs from the president straight to the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon). So was there a period of time while Austin was in the hospital, where, if an emergency had occurred necessitating the use of force, there was no one available to give the command?
The Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, assured me on Wednesday that this was not the case: “At no time was there a gap in chain of command of Department of Defense command and control,” he said. “There was never any risk to national security.” According to Ryder, both times when Austin went into the hospital — first on Dec. 22 for his prostate cancer surgery and then again on Jan. 1 to deal with complications resulting from that surgery — “operational authorities” were duly transferred to the deputy defense secretary, Kathleen Hicks. If the United States or its forces had been attacked at that time, she could have given the order to respond, even from her Puerto Rico vacation. (Austin is still in the hospital, but on Jan. 5, he resumed operational command.)
Hicks has said that she didn’t realize until days later that Austin was in the hospital. It’s puzzling that Austin didn’t keep her better informed, but from what Ryder told me, it’s not uncommon to transfer operational authorities without giving the reason. Sometimes, he said, it’s for something as simple as the defense secretary traveling on an aircraft that lacks the full suite of communications capabilities to command and control U.S. forces worldwide. Ryder added that the secretary’s office has now changed its policy to ensure that it notifies everyone of why authorities are being temporarily transferred — not just when.
“We’ve all learned through this process,” Ryder told me. “Secretary Austin has taken full responsibility on the need to keep the public informed and we’re looking to do better. But this situation doesn’t change who Lloyd Austin is as a person. He’s still the same dedicated public servant, and he is just as committed to defending the country.”
Indeed, we should all be grateful that Austin is the defense secretary after the tumult and chaos of the Trump years. President Donald Trump had five secretaries of defense (three of them “acting”), and he sent unqualified political hacks to try to take de facto control of the Defense Department. Gen. Mark A. Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, worried that Trump would try to stage a military coup.
Austin has restored a sense of calmness to the armed forces with his understated command presence. He has made clear that the military will uphold the Constitution, and he has sought to root out extremists in the military’s ranks, thereby earning himself the ire of the “Jan. 6 Party.” He hasn’t gotten everything right, but the biggest screw up on his watch — the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 — was not his fault. He warned President Biden against the pullout. But when Biden gave the order anyway, Austin executed it without leaking his disagreement to news organizations.
The world crises on Austin’s watch have played to his strengths. As a former Army general, he has been well positioned to marshal a vast coalition to help Ukraine survive the biggest invasion Europe has seen since 1945. And as a former head of U.S. Central Command, he has been well positioned to deal with the fallout from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, with the resulting rise in tensions between the United States and Iran and its proxies.
As with many people, Austin’s greatest weakness is the flip side of his greatest strength. While it’s good that he is neither a show-boater nor a self-promoter, he can also be too private and too uncommunicative. That is what has now gotten him into trouble. But his failure to be more forthcoming about his health crisis should not negate all the good he has done — or lead Biden to throw him to the howling pack of wolves that are always ready to rip to shreds any officeholder in Washington.
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