Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent to hospital due to bladder problems
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 22, 2023, and was released on Jan. 9, 2024, was transferred back to the same hospital on Sunday, the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon said in a statement that Austin was taken by Secret Service to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center around 2:20 p.m. “He maintains the functions and duties of the office,” said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman. But the deputy secretary of defense added that he had been notified and was prepared to take on Austin’s mission “if necessary.”
Austin’s hospitalization in December prompted the White House to direct Cabinet members and secretaries to notify the chief of staff if they were unable to report for duty.
Not only the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but also the White House and some members of the National Assembly were notified.
Ryder said Austin went to the hospital with unclassified and confidential communications systems he needed to do his job.
Austin was scheduled to depart for Brussels on Tuesday to open a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, which he established in 2022 to coordinate military support for Kiev following the Russian invasion. Afterwards, Austin was scheduled to attend the regular meeting of NATO defense ministers. It was not immediately clear whether his hospitalization would change those plans.
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–With a report from the Associated Press.
