The Department of Defense will review the process by which top leaders are notified of the transfer of duties from the secretary of defense following a week in which senior officials, the public and news media were kept in the dark about Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization and work absence. 

Jennifer Walsh, the director of Administration and Management, will lead the review “to identify the relevant facts and circumstances during this period and evaluate the processes and procedures through which the Deputy Secretary of Defense was notified that she should carry out the functions and duties of the Secretary of Defense under 10 U.S.C. § 132(b) and Executive Order 13533,” a Defense Department statement said Monday evening. 

“The purpose of such review is to better understand the facts surrounding these events and to recommend appropriate processes going forward,” the statement said.

“I am very glad to be on the mend and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon,” he said. “I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].