Lloyd Austin
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress Thursday that Israeli forces had killed 25,000 women and children, but the Pentagon then said Austin was citing Gaza health ministry numbers on the total number of Palestinians killed.
The Department of Defense said the secretary's staff dealt with "an unprecedented situation."
Austin, 70, has had ongoing health issues since undergoing surgery in December to treat prostate cancer.
He “is retaining the functions and duties of his office,” said Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The former general took several days to inform the White House of his cancer diagnosis and emergency hospitalization last month.
The Pentagon chief was absent for nearly a month due to complications from prostate cancer surgery, and has been meeting with the NATO secretary general.
“We’re trying to remain a little subtle,” a member of the Secretary of Defense’s team told the 911 dispatcher.
The president said he still has confidence in the defense secretary's leadership.
The 70-year-old retired general appears to have kept the truth about his diagnosis and treatment under wraps.
White House Orders Cabinet Secretaries To Notify When They Can't Perform Duties After Austin Illness
A memo was sent out after President Joe Biden and other top officials weren’t informed for days that Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized.