US defence chief apologises for secrecy over cancer

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has apologised for concealing his prostate cancer diagnosis and hospitalisation from President Joe Biden, the rest of the government, and the American public.
Still in recovery, Austin continues to suffer from leg pain and said that he used a golf cart for transportation inside the Pentagon ahead of the rare solo press conference.
The defence minister has come under heavy political fire from Republicans over his undisclosed absence at a time when the United States faces a spiralling crisis in the Middle East.
Austin said he has not considered resigning and that Biden continues to back him.
However, he repeatedly apologised, blaming his naturally “private” instincts following the shock of the diagnosis.
“I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis,” he told journalists. “I have apologised directly to President Biden.”
The 70-year-old Austin was out of the public eye for weeks, being admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Maryland on December 22 to treat prostate cancer.
He returned to the hospital on January 1 due to complications that included a urinary tract infection.
His hospitalisation was not disclosed until four days later, and the Pentagon did not specify why he was being treated until January 9.
Austin said he had never directed anyone in his staff to keep his January hospitalisation from the White House or the public, but acknowledged: “We did not get this right.”
He added that he did not know what information had been passed to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, who temporarily took over his duties.
The White House was not informed until January 4, while Congress was not told until the following day, and Biden did not learn of the cancer diagnosis until January 9.
The controversy over his health problems comes with American forces in Iraq and Syria facing near-daily attacks from Iran-backed militants – one of which killed three soldiers over the weekend – while Yemen’s Houthi rebels have repeatedly targeted international shipping.
The top US defence official is also a key figure in attempts by the Biden administration to maintain support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion, with Republican members of Congress refusing to authorise new funding for military aid to Kyiv.
Austin – a commanding presence at well over 6’ tall – is an intensely private person who eschews the spotlight, which he said played into his decision to keep the cancer diagnosis secret.
It “was a gut punch. And frankly, my first instinct was to keep it private. I don’t think it’s news that I’m a pretty private guy – I never liked burdening others with my problems”, Austin said.
However, he admitted that “taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect. The American people have a right to know if their leaders are facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties, even temporarily”.
Various Republican lawmakers have called for Austin to be sacked, but Biden, while lamenting the Pentagon chief’s lapse in judgment, has said he remains confident in his defence minister.
The commander-in-chief “has responded with a grace and warm heart that anyone who knows President Biden would expect, and I’m grateful for his full confidence in me”, Austin said.
Some prominent Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, called for Austin to be removed from his job.
Austin is a retired four-star general who led forces in Iraq and who is America’s first black defence minister.
The chair of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has asked Austin to testify before the panel over the failure to timely disclose his hospitalisation.
“Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a cabinet secretary,” committee chairman Mike Rogers wrote last month.