Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton says if he were president, he'd fire Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said during an appearance on NewsNation that if he were president, he would fire Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin.

Austin was hospitalized on January 1 due to complications following a December prostatectomy that he underwent due to cancer.

But NSC coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby has said that President Joe Biden was informed about the hospitalization on January 4. Kirby also indicated that Biden learned about the cancer on January 9.

Moulton had said in a January 8 statement that Biden "needs to make immediate changes that send a decisive message that this will never happen again."

Austin is still at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, according to a Friday statement from Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, who noted that the cabinet official is "in good condition."

"He's in contact with his senior staff and has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor DOD's day-to-day operations worldwide," Ryder noted. "Secretary Austin was actively engaged this week in overseeing and directing the U.S. military's participation in last night's multinational strikes against military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. At the President's direction, he gave the order yesterday to U.S. Central Command to execute the strikes and monitored the operation real-time with a full suite of secure communication capabilities."

Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania has called for Austin to resign.

Former President Donald Trump opined in a Truth Social post that "Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty."

Asked whether he has confidence in Austin, Biden has said, "I do."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!