Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s office is investigating itself to see where breakdowns were in notifying President Joe Biden and other members of the cabinet, Congress, and Austin’s own staff that he was hospitalized and incapacitated for several days in January.
“We are currently reviewing how we can improve these notification procedures to include White House and congressional notifications,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in an off-camera press briefing on the situation on Monday.
“We are going back and looking at all the processes and procedures and reviewing that to look at areas that we can take steps to improve those processes so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again,” he said.
When asked if the Pentagon’s general counsel had determined whether Austin broke any laws by not notifying the president, the national security adviser, his deputy, and members of Congress about his condition for several days despite being at least partially incapacitated, Ryder said the Pentagon “will provide updates.”
“We are considering the impact of any statutory reporting requirements and will provide updates as appropriate,” Ryder said,
When asked who was conducting the review, Ryder said it was Austin’s office as well as his public affairs team. He said:
As it relates to the Secretary’s front office and those processes and procedures, it would be the Secretary’s front office conducting that review. But of course, as I highlighted within our own organization here in public affairs, we, of course, will look at our processes and procedures, and I personally, as I mentioned, will work to do a better job. And when I meet with the PPA later this afternoon, I certainly welcome feedback on what we can do better.
One reporter asked Ryder about Austin’s front office reviewing what happened, saying, “Isn’t that kind of checking your own homework?”
Ryder responded, “No one has more interest in making sure that we can learn from this and ensure that we’re doing what we need to do than the folks that are carrying out those responsibilities.”
When asked why the matter is not being referred to the Pentagon inspector general for the “sake of transparency,” Ryder said, “I don’t want to speculate or get into any additional reviews. Again, right now, there’s an immediate task at hand, and we’re focused on that.”
Asked whether the review was the same one that National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby referenced during a press gaggle on Monday, Ryder said he did not know.
Kirby had told reporters, “Obviously, I think, as you might expect, we’ll take a look at process and procedure here and try to learn from this experience. And if there’s some changes that need to be made, you know, in terms of process and procedure, we’ll do that.”
Ryder said, “I can’t speak for the White House. I saw what he said. I don’t know if that’s something that the White House will do on its own. I don’t know.”
As to whether the American public will be able to see the results of the review, Ryder was non-committal.
“We’ll keep you updated, certainly. Right now, it’s, as I understand, an internal review looking at our processes and procedures,” he said.
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