Defense Department IG finds Secretary Austin's '23 hospitalization increased national security risks

The Pentagon inspector general says the handling of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalization last year increased national security threats but acknowledged the matter did not result in any such breech. 

"Although we found no adverse consequences to Defense Department operations arising from how the hospitalizations we reviewed were handled, the risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the Defense Department's critical national security operations, were increased unnecessarily," Inspector General Robert Storch said, according to a CBS News report Wednesday.

Austin was reportedly diagnosed with prostate cancer in early-December 2023, had the surgery Dec. 22, started having severe pain as a result and returned Jan. 1 to Walter Reed military medical Center, where he also was diagnosed with a related urinary tract infection infection.

However, he did not tell President Biden until Jan. 5. 

The report from the inspector general stated that neither Congress or the White House were notified about Austin in a timely manner.

The watchdog announced last year that it would conduct a review to "examine the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions related to the Secretary of Defense's hospitalization in December 2023 – January 2024, and assess whether the DoD's policies and procedures are sufficient to ensure timely and appropriate notifications and the effective transition of authorities as may be warranted due to health-based or other unavailability of senior leadership."