White House issues guidance to cabinet following undisclosed Austin hospitalization

Amid fallout over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's undisclosed hospitalization earlier this month, the White House has issued new guidelines for cabinet members to notify it should they be unable to fulfill their duties.

Austin was hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Center in early January due to complications from a prior surgery. He notified neither the White House nor the public for several days. The episode prompted calls for Austin's resignation, though he has not obliged and the Biden White House has signaled it does not plan to ask him to do so.

The new White House guidance, which the Associated Press reviewed, requires that cabinet agencies notify the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs and the Office of White House chief of staff Jeff Zients an expected delegation of authority and to do so again upon the actual occurrence.

"Through your submissions, you demonstrated your commitment to notifying the White House in the event of a delegation – and upon assumption of a delegation, establishing contact with the White House," Zients wrote in a memo.

Austin left the hospital in mid-January. While there, however, he reportedly remained active in his position and aided in planning a U.S. strike on Houthi forces in Yemen, monitoring the operation from his hospital bed.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.