Reporters Grill Kirby and Jean-Pierre About Lloyd Austin’s Undisclosed Absence
AP Photo/Susan Walsh; AP Photo/Evan Vucci; AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Coordinator for Strategic Communications for the National Security Counsel John Kirby received a barrage of questions about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s medical absence on Monday, but reiterated that his job is safe.
Austin did not disclose that he was undergoing minor elective surgery before the new year, then spent several days in the hospital after experiencing complications and recovering in intensive care. For days, no one — including President Joe Biden — knew where Austin was, and many are now demanding answers as to why no one was informed of the whereabouts of the U.S. Secretary of Defense and if President Joe Biden would fire him.
Reporters on board Air Force One for the White House press gaggle with Jean-Pierre and Kirby were among them, and both were hit with questions about Austin. The first question to Kirby asked about “the level of frustration at the NSC,” and “will there be any consequences for that?”
Kirby answered that the “main focus right now is on Secretary Austin’s health. And making sure that he gets all the care and supports that he needs to fully recover.” He also stated that Austin has resumed some of his duties while he is still in the hospital. But there were still questions as to whether Austin would be able to keep his job:
Q: There are some calls for him to be fired. Is that something that the president is wanting or considering doing?
Kirby: The president’s number one focus is on his health and recovery, and he looks forward to having him back at the Pentagon as soon as possible. The president respects the fact that Secretary Austin took ownership for the lack of transparency. He also respects the amazing job he’s done as defense secretary and how he’s handled multiple crises over the last, almost three years now. Um, and, uh, very much valued his advice, candor, leadership. Uh, and again, looks forward to having him back at the Pentagon soon.
Q: Does the president know what elective surgery the secretary had, even though the American people don’t know? And does he know what his current symptoms are and his current health condition is?
Kirby: I know that the president had an opportunity to talk to Secretary Austin a couple of days ago and wish him well… I don’t know the level of the president’s personal knowledge of his medical situation, and that would really be between the two men. Uh, your your question about that elective procedure is really better directed to the Pentagon, not, uh, not to us.
I want to make sure I put a fork in my answer to you. There is no, uh, no plans for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continue in the leadership that he’s been, that he’s been demonstrating.
Then the questions turned to transparency at the White House, so Jean-Pierre stepped in:
Jean-Pierre: The president has always put transparency at the center of his administration from the beginning. And obviously that’s what we’re going to continue to do. So we’re going to continue to be transparent. Obviously Department of Defense will have more about, more to speak to about their protocol. Uh, I just don’t have anything to add specifically on that.
Q: Do you think you were transparent here, though? I mean, it took days for this, for people to be informed about this at a time of, you know, conflict around the world.
Kirby: The Pentagon has talked about this. The Secretary put out a statement, took accountability for the lack of transparency. We’ll let the Pentagon speak to the process.
Listen to the full briefing via the White House on YouTube.
