Maybe he went in for something really embarrassing, like cosmetic surgery to enlarge his penis, and didn’t want to inform either the White House or the general public. 
I had forgotten that, but after Chuck Hagel had been filibustered - for SecDef, by coincidence - in 2013, the Senate changed its rules so that “most executive-level and federal judicial nominations” just need a simple majority. The Supreme Court was added in 2017.
Biden can ask him to resign now. His replacement won’t be simple, but after Tuberville’s defeat on military positions, another battle on defense wouldn’t suit Republicans. No one except a few political junkies will remember this in November.
Rep. Chris Deluzio, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and an Iraq War veteran, becomes the first Democratic member of Congress to call for Austin to resign:
Doper polls on the controversy here: Polls only: No discussion - #4383 by Elendil_s_Heir
What if he’s already resigned, but hasn’t mentioned it to Biden?
Ha! That’s good.
Read your own news clip headline to yourself again…
“The pentagon didn’t inform Biden, White House for days about Austin’s…”
In writing their own hit piece, Politico admits “The Pentagon” knew about SecDef absence.
Our system of government is not without redundancies and the defense department “The Pentagon” had all this handled… That said, however, I’m sure after all the bluster, it will be reveled that someone near the top of the food chain was told SecDef was not “available” and they lackey will be putting their CV on Indeed, pretty soon…
Yeah, there’s nothing like kicking a man when he’s down… Prostate cancer is not a death sentence (most times) And, except for survivors, like myself, it is something that most all men keep to themselves, until remission, then they will tell their story…
This guy needs to sit down and STFU least he be in the same situation in the future…
And Democrats need to stop “eating their own” so they can appear they are holding the moral high ground… Look what they did to Franken… He would have made a great president…
No, he doesn’t; he can stand up and say this, and be willing to notify folks if he winds up in a significantly similar condition; he can talk the talk and walk the walk; he can say the right things about Austin, and do the right things himself.
Pretty straightforward, really.
I’m not sure who you’re arguing with, Austin himself has stated that he handled the situation poorly and responsibility rests with him. His own Deputy didn’t know that he was hospitalized, only that she was being called on to make some decisions from her vacation beach in Puerto Rico. The White House has ordered all Cabinet departments to review their protocols for delegating authority in the event of the Secretary’s unavailability or incapacitation.
This is a legitimate story that raises important questions about how the Secretary’s authority is delegated in the event of his incapacitation and how that is communicated to the White House, the rest of the national security apparatus and his own staff. Luckily the operational impact was minimal, and this can become the basis for reviewing and tightening procedures for all agencies going forward.
Sure. But they’ll learn from it and the story will blow over in another week or two. I don’t see it having legs, politically.
It should have legs. It should lead to real change. It should result in a severely pissed off president. It shouldn’t lead to serious political fallout for the president.
Unfortunately it plays into the Brandon is senile and really isn’t in control narrative. “His defense secretary is missing and he doesn’t even notice!” Thinking that can’t
have serious consequences in an election year is just whistling in the dark.
I think we’re saying the same thing.
I feel like it’s reasonable to assume that:
- The petty [1] administrative bullshit w/questionable optics that actually happened under the Biden Presidency
Has absolutely no chance of sucking the propaganda oxygen from:
- The baseless Insane Clown Posse bullshit they’re trying to pin on Biden (eg, “Biden Crime Family”)
They throw shit against the wall and gauge what sticks. IMHO, this just won’t stick.
But if I were Joe Biden, once Austin was recovered, we’d have a little chat.
[1] Because something didn’t have disastrous consequences doesn’t mean it couldn’t have. We do “after action reports” to understand failures and prevent them in the future. There are two wars going on, and didn’t we just conduct airstrikes in Yemen? Never a good time to have prostate cancer, but there are times when your job needs to be adequately covered, and that fact needs to be widely understood.
This shouldn’t have to be learned. I guarantee you all of them knew what was supposed to happen. You don’t get your first managerial job without learning that you don’t just bugger off without making arrangements. And I guarantee that anyone in the nuclear weapons chain of command has been trained on what to do if they have to be out of touch.
Hell, a manager at a 7-11 knows to notify people and arrange for replacements before they go off and do some scheduled thing. The SecDef? If he and his office didn’t understand what to do in this situation, they are too stupid or uncaring to be there.
This shouldn’t blow back on Biden - unless he does nothing about it. Then he deserves to be criticised. This wasn’t just screw-up. It showed that Austin cared more for his personal privacy than breaking the chain of command during an active conflict. That should be a firing offense.
Except in the current political situation, if Austin resigns, there is no guarantee that Biden would be able to get a new SecDef approved quickly by the Senate. Best to keep Austin in, after reaming him out.
Does SECDEF have a football like the President? If so, where was it while Austin was hospitalized and did Biden know who had it?
No, only POTUS and VPOTUS have “footballs” (briefcases with the nuclear launch codes), I believe.
100% this. People who propose reactions that fit within normal parameters aren’t paying attention. Nothing about where we’re at is normal. Nothing.
Austin has been released from the hospital, but even still will not return to the Pentagon per doctor’s orders and will work from home for an unspecified period.