Former President Donald Trump did not beat around the bush on Monday when he called for President Joe Biden to boot Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after it was discovered he was incapacitated for days without informing anyone of his condition. Trump referred to this as “dereliction of duty,” which is correct. Come to think of it, since Biden himself has done absolutely nothing to solve the issues at the southern border, despite it being his responsibility to do so, he should be removed from office for dereliction as well. Boot ’em both!
Check out the details via The Daily Wire:
Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday evening that the defense chief should be “fired immediately” after Austin failed to notify the White House or top national security officials for several days that he was hospitalized. Austin checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week over complications from an elective surgery.
“Failed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty. He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was, or might be,” Trump went on to state in the post. “He has performed poorly, and should have been dismissed long ago, along with ‘General’ Mark Milley, for many reasons, but in particular the catastrophic surrender in Afghanistan, perhaps the most embarrassing moment in the history of our Country!”
Austin checked into Walter Reed on January 1 but never notified the White House, the National Security Council, or Congress until January 4. Austin reportedly spent time in the intensive care unit and remained in recovery in the hospital over the weekend.
While hospitalized, Austin passed off some of his responsibilities to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico at the time. Hicks was reportedly left in the dark about Austin’s condition, as well, however.
On Sunday, Austin put out an official statement that addressed “media concerns about transparency” concerning his stay in the hospital. However, missing from the response was anything discussing how he failed to provide notification of his issues to the White House, lawmakers, or any other top ranking national security officials. Austin didn’t provide any details concerning the procedure he underwent or the complications that led to the hospital stay.
“I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” Austin remarked. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, who is currently the top GOP member on the Senate Armed Services Committee also released a few words about the controversy saying it was “unacceptable” and displayed a “shocking defiance of the law” from the Department of Defense.
“Worryingly, we now have more questions than answers. Why was the notification process under 5 U.S.C. 3349 not followed and who made the determination not to follow it? What role did the Secretary of Defense’s staff play? When exactly was the President notified?” Wicker added. “What justification did the Department have for withholding information from the National Security Council? To what extent was the Secretary incapacitated by his surgery?”
“The very fact that we have none of this information is an indictment of an administration which consistently holds Congressional authority on national defense matters in contempt,” he stated.
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