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), in its 188-page report, criticized Austin's team for failing to properly notify key officials and transfer the authorities of his job. The OIG also knocked Austin and his staff for how they handled the hospitalization for surgeries or complications related to prostate cancer in December 2023 and early 2024.

In January of last year, Austin's hospitalization and failure to properly notify the White House and Congress of the treatment sparked controversy and led to a congressional hearing and a Biden administration review of cabinet secretary notifications to the president.

Inspector General Robert Storch said the "ability for the DoD and the government to operate seamlessly and the continuity of leadership under any and all circumstances are fundamental to our national security."

"Although we found no adverse consequences to DoD operations arising from how the hospitalizations we reviewed were handled, the risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the........

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