--- title: Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "I Take Full Responsibility" For Not Alerting White House of Hospitalization | TIME description: On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he takes full responsibility for keeping President Joe Biden in the dark for weeks that he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was hospitalized. canonical: https://time.com/video/y0Pw7Ivj/ og:title: Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "I Take Full Responsibility" For Not Alerting White House of Hospitalization og:description: On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he takes full responsibility for keeping President Joe Biden in the dark for weeks that he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was hospitalized. og:url: https://time.com/video/y0Pw7Ivj/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/y0Pw7Ivj/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "I Take Full Responsibility" For Not Alerting White House of Hospitalization twitter:description: On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he takes full responsibility for keeping President Joe Biden in the dark for weeks that he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was hospitalized. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/y0Pw7Ivj/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * Politics # Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "I Take Full Responsibility" For Not Alerting White House of Hospitalization > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "I Take Full Responsibility" For Not Alerting White House of Hospitalization [Watch (HLS stream): Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "I Take Full Responsibility" For Not Alerting White House of Hospitalization](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/y0Pw7Ivj.m3u8) (4:10)  _Published 2024-02-01. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he takes full responsibility for keeping President Joe Biden in the dark for weeks that he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was hospitalized._ --- Feb 1, 2024 6:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Lawmakers Fault Defense Secretary Austin for Failure of Leadership Over Secret Hospital Stay](/video/DjSu9AmR/) ### Lawmakers Fault Defense Secretary Austin for Failure of Leadership Over Secret Hospital Stay [Pentagon Reveals Details About Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Secretive Hospitalization](/video/z0NHeNmE/) ### Pentagon Reveals Details About Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Secretive Hospitalization [Defense Secretary Says Syria Is Responsible for Chemical Attack](/video/7p1rlIEI/) ### Defense Secretary Says Syria Is Responsible for Chemical Attack --- ## Transcript I'm recovering well, but as you can see, I'm still recovering. So having some leg pain and doing physical therapy and to get past it. I'm deeply grateful to my doctors and the nursing staff at Walter Reed and I very much appreciate all the good wishes. But I want to be crystal clear. We did not handle this right and I did not handle this, right? I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people now. I want to make it very clear that there were no gaps and authorities and no risk to the Department's command and control. At every moment either I or the deputy secretary was in full charge. It was already put in place some new procedures to make sure that any lapses and notification don't happen. In the future is a deputy secretary needs to temporarily assumed the off the duties of my office. She and several White House offices will be immediately notified including the White House Situation Room. So we'll key officials across the department. And the reason for that Assumption of Duties will be included in writing. I want you all to know that to know why this happened. I was being treated for prostate cancer. the new shook me I know that it shakes so many others especially in the black community. It was a gut punch. Frankly, my first instinct was to keep it private. I don't think it's news that I'm a pretty private guy. I never liked the burdening others with my problems. It's just not my way. But I've learned from this experience. So taking this kind of job means losing some of the Privacy that most of us expect the American people have a right to know what their leaders were facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties even temporarily so why do Circle should have been notified especially the president? And I never directed anyone to keep my January hospitalization from the White House. On January 5th. I resumed my functions and duties of secretary from the hospital. I was wanting to talk to me. Well mentally but not so well physically and so I stayed at Walter Reed for additional time for additional treatment including physical therapy for some lingering issues with my leg. Now, I'm offering all of this as an explanation and not an excuse. I am very proud of what we've achieved at the department over the past three years, but we fell short on this one as a rule. I don't talk about conversations with my boss, but I can tell you I apologize directly to President Biden and I told him that I'm deeply sorry for not letting him know you immediately that I received a heavy diagnosis and was getting treatment and he has responded with a Grace and warm heart that anyone who knows President Biden would expect. And I'm grateful for his full confidence in me. I also missed an opportunity to send a message on an important public health issue, and I'd like to fix that right now. I was diagnosed with a highly treatable form of cancer a pretty common one. What a Native American men will get prostate cancer one and six black man will get it and so I'm here with a clear message to other men, especially older man. Get screen get your regular check-ups prostate cancer has a glass jar. If your doctor can spot it. They can treat it and beat it. The side effects that I experienced or highly highly unusual. So you can count on me. So the better example on this issue today and for the rest of my life. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Defense Sec. 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