Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization scandal last year increased national security risks and should have been handled better, according to a new report from the Pentagon’s watchdog. The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Defense (OIG),

The Pentagon’s internal watchdog found that both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks violated protocol in their handling of a medical crisis last year arising from Austin’s prostate cancer treatment,

An investigation released on Wednesday into U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's secret 2024 hospitalization found his desire for privacy drove notification failures inside the government, and that he took medication that could have affected his cognitive functions while still in sole command.

A Pentagon official insists there were no ‘gaps in authorities or operational impacts’ during Secretary Austin’s hospitalizations.