A senior defense official said Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was not notified until Thursday that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1.
Pentagon officials say they will maximize production lines for top priority munitions as part of its $170 billion procurement budget proposal for FY24.
President Joe Biden met virtually on Monday with the chief executive of Lockheed Martin and other companies to spur forward a bill to boost semiconductor production in the United States.