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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized earlier this week for unknown reasons but is recovering, the Pentagon said late Friday after the information was withheld for days.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington on Monday “due to complications from a recent medical procedure.”
Ryder did not provide further details but said Austin, a former Army general who was nominated for the top post by President Biden and became the nation's first African-American defense secretary in 2021, “is recovering well and expects to return to his post.” Full tasks today.”
It was not clear when he might be released or why the Pentagon did not disclose Austin's hospitalization earlier this week.
The announcement came amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, where armed groups linked to Iran have carried out attacks on U.S. military facilities in Iraq and Syria as well as on ships operating in the region. A U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on Thursday highlighted the risk of increasing instability despite the Biden administration's attempts to contain the fallout from the war between U.S. ally Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Those efforts have also been challenged by attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen, who fired or fired missiles at merchant ships in the Red Sea. On Sunday, a day before Austin was hospitalized, U.S. forces engaged in a firefight with militants when they attacked a Singapore-flagged Danish ship passing through the area. To stop the violence, the government has formed a new multinational maritime coalition.
Austin, who frequently travels internationally, returned from a one-day trip to Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East in late December.
Ryder said in a statement that Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks stands ready to exercise defense secretary's authority if necessary due to Austin's medical treatment. In a later email, Ryder said Austin remained hospitalized and fully resumed his professional duties Friday evening.
He said that Hicks “made some routine decisions on behalf of Secretary Austin” this week.
“It is noteworthy that the Secretary did not have to explicitly delegate his duties, as the Act automatically authorizes the Assistant Secretary to perform the Secretary’s duties if he is unable to perform them,” Ryder added.
A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation, declined to say what procedure Austin underwent or what the resulting complications were.
The official said Austin was on alert Thursday as U.S. forces carried out this week's Iraq attack. noting that he and Biden had previously approved the operation.
The Pentagon Press Association, an organization that represents media outlets that cover the Defense Department, expressed frustration about the department's failure to inform the public and media about the hospitalization and called for a meeting with Pentagon leaders to discuss the department's handling of the matter.
“The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for … days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late Friday evening is a scandal,” the group said in a letter to Ryder and Chris Meagher, another surveillance official of Pentagon public affairs.
The press association said the public has a right to know when Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia or delegate their duties due to a medical procedure. “This was common even down to the presidential level,” the letter said. “As the nation’s top defense secretary, Secretary Austin has no right to privacy in this situation.”
Citing “an evolving situation,” Ryder said the Pentagon “had to consider a number of factors, including medical and personal privacy issues,” when determining the timing of the announcement’s release.