Republican lawmakers confronted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about his "failure of leadership" during his hospitalization.
Austin later responded, saying it is not entirely uncommon for he and Biden to go without direct communication for multiple days.
Criticism of Austin was a point of rare unity for Republicans and Democrats on the committee. Ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said he agreed with nearly every point Rogers made in his opening statement, only disagreeing with the claim that there had been gaps in national security communications during the incident.
Democratic lawmakers appeared satisfied with the changes Austin has already made since his early January hospitalization. He said the Pentagon has now codified procedures for both transferring authorities during emergency incidents and for notifying other key members of the administration and staff at the Pentagon.
Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., a nearly 40-year veteran of the military, argued those protocols had already been in place, however. He argued instead that it was a "failure of leadership" that caused the confusion.
"I don't think there was a threat to national security because of this, Secretary Austin. I don't think that there ever was. The protocols were in place. I do, however, think it was an extreme lack of leadership at some level, and I hope we identify that and there are consequences," he finished.
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Austin is scheduled to appear before the Armed Services Committee yet again in roughly a month.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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