
US President Joe Biden won't fire Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for hiding his hospitalization from both the public and the government, Politico reported on Monday, citing unnamed senior administration officials.
Austin was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last Monday due to "complications following a recent elective medical procedure," the Pentagon revealed to reporters on Friday. Over the weekend, it emerged that Austin was still in the hospital but that no one had informed the White House of his initial absence.
Four anonymous officials spoke to Politico following calls by Republicans for Austin to relinquish his post, insisting that Biden is "famously loyal" and would refuse to accept a resignation even if the former general were to offer it.
"Austin's going nowhere," one senior administration official told the outlet.












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