U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is facing growing questions about why he did not inform President Biden or top Pentagon officials after he was admitted into the intensive care unit of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Austin was hospitalized last Monday, but Biden didn’t find out until Thursday. Austin’s top deputy also did not know, even though she had assumed some of his duties. The Pentagon said Austin was first hospitalized on December 22 for an elective surgery. After being discharged a day later, he was admitted again on New Year’s Day after experiencing “severe pain.” He remains hospitalized.