White House orders Cabinet protocol review after Austin hospitalization
by Brett Samuels - 01/09/24 1:59 PM ET
The White House is launching a review of protocols for how Cabinet officials delegate authority in the aftermath of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s undisclosed hospitalization, which President Biden was not notified of for multiple days.
Chief of staff Jeff Zients in a memo to Cabinet secretaries said while the review is ongoing, agencies would be required to notify the Office of Cabinet Affairs and the White House chief of staff in the event they need to delegate their duties.
The memo, which was first published by Axios, calls for agencies to submit their protocols for delegation by Friday.
Zients wrote that the protocols should address how Cabinet secretaries will delegate their duties when traveling to areas with limited communication, during a hospitalization, or when undergoing a medical procedure requiring anesthesia.
The agencies should also determine who else would be authorized to issue a delegation of authority if needed, as well as who should be notified beyond the chief of staff and Office of Cabinet Affairs.
Zients’s memo comes amid the ongoing fallout from Austin’s hospitalization, which caught the White House off guard and has drawn bipartisan criticism over its handling.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4398087-white-house-orders-cabinet-protocol-review-after-austin-hospitalization/
