WASHINGTON: U.S. President Joe Biden has no plan to remove Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after his failure to disclose his hospitalization last week, western media reported on Monday.
According to reports Biden’s administration attempted to silence a political furor that has started following revelations over the past some days that Biden, did not know about the hospitalization of defense secretary.
Prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump have asked Biden to remove Austin from his job.
However, the Pentagon categorically said the retired four-star general had no plans to resign. While the White House also said that Biden was not seeking to remove the Pentagon chief.
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Austin is still being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was taken by ambulance on New Year’s Day. The Pentagon said Auston is no longer in the ICU but remains hospitalized.
John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters on Air Force One Monday that Secretary Austin to stay in the job.
Trump seeks Austin’s removal
Former President Donald Trump, who is Biden’s expected Republican challenger in the 2024 election, said Austin should be removed for his non-professional conduct.
Trump wrote on Truth Social said Austin has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Joe Biden, had a clue about his whereabouts.
Austin comes just below Biden in the chain of command of the US military and his duties require his availability at a moment’s notice to respond to any matter of national security crisis.
