Joe Biden’s administration is a mess.
The chaos now threatens American national security.
And a frantic trip to the hospital has Joe Biden’s allies in a panic.
Questions continue to mount over the scandal relating to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin going off the grid for four days and not telling anyone.
Austin entered the hospital on January 1 and spent several days in the ICU without telling the president or the National Security Council.
In that time the U.S. military carried out strikes against militia groups in Iraq and had naval assets deployed in the Red Sea to fend off attacks from the Houthis designed to disrupt commercial shipping while Israel attempts to destroy Hamas.
America was on potential World War 3 footing and the president had no idea his chief military adviser was AWOL.
The chain of command completely collapsed, and America barely avoided a national security calamity while a constitutional crisis raged since the military carried out operations without it being clear who was in charge.
Nearly a week later, the Pentagon released a statement saying Austin underwent surgery for prostate cancer on December 22 and developed complications from the procedure which landed him back in the hospital.
“Initial evaluation revealed a urinary tract infection. On January 2, the decision was made to transfer him to the ICU for close monitoring and a higher level of care,” the Pentagon’s statement explained.
“Further evaluation revealed abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines. This resulted in the back up of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach. The abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement,” the Pentagon’s statement continued.
Austin going missing in action also clearly bothered swing-seat Democrats such as Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Deluzio – an Iraq War veteran who became the first member of his party to call on Austin to resign.
“I have lost trust in Secretary Lloyd Austin’s leadership of the Defense Department due to the lack of transparency about his recent medical treatment and its impact on the continuity of the chain of command,” Deluzio began.
“I have a solemn duty in Congress to conduct oversight of the Defense Department through my service on the House Armed Services Committee. That duty today requires me to call on Secretary Austin to resign,” Deluzio concluded.
Austin never told Biden about his cancer or the initial surgery until well after the fact.
The complete disregard of keeping Biden – who is the commander-in-chief – in the loop raised more questions about Biden’s staff really being the ones in charge of the administration due to Biden’s cognitive decline.