Pentagon Review Faults No One for Failure to Disclose Austin’s Illness

Few expected the Pentagon’s internal review of Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III’s failure to tell President Biden and other senior leaders that he was in the hospital to amount to much.

And indeed, it did not.

The unclassified version of the review was released on Monday. It has little if any criticism of the slew of Defense Department officials, including Mr. Austin, who did not immediately notify the White House that he was in the intensive care unit of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., last month with prostate cancer surgery complications.

The review instead retreats behind paragraphs of heavy legalese that do little to disguise the lack of accountability. It is a strange document, with recommendations signed by Mr. Austin himself.

“The director of administration and management will develop and codify internal guidance for making determinations regarding the assumption of functions and duties of the secretary of defense, minimizing subjectivity in any guidance, and will provide me with a proposed communication and training plan for all relevant organizations and officials,” the recommendations say.

The closest the review comes to any self-criticism is contained in a paragraph about the transfer of authority, referred to in the document as “T.O.A.”

“The secretary’s staff focused on ensuring continuity of the mission following standing processes,” the document said. “Their efforts, while respecting the secretary’s privacy, combined with the uncertainty of a medical situation and its bearing on how best to execute a T.O.A. in the absence of an established methodology for making such an unplanned decision, may have contributed to the lack of comprehensive information sharing about the situation.”