US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin takes questions during a press conference on the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was taken back to the hospital on Sunday afternoon by his security detail for symptoms related to a possible bladder issue, and later transferred his responsibilities to his top deputy, the Pentagon announced.
Austin is battling prostate cancer and has been recovering from surgery over the past few months.
The Pentagon said that Austin initially had retained all of the responsibilities of his post when he entered the hospital.
On his approach to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Austin brought along all “unclassified and classified communication systems needed to perform his duties,” in line with Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
However the Pentagon hours later issued an update, saying that Austin had transferred his duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks just before 5 p.m. ET.
“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House, and Congress have been notified,” the Pentagon said. “We’ll provide additional updates on Secretary Austin’s condition as soon as possible.”
The Pentagon’s disclosure of Austin’s hospitalization and its update avoided a repeat of a recent situation where Austin and his staff didn’t inform top government officials that Austin was within the intensive care unit for complications related to his cancer surgery.
In January, Austin got here under fire after the Pentagon waited days to tell the White House and the general public that he was within the ICU for unknown reasons on the time.
Doctors at Walter Reed later disclosed the prostate cancer diagnosis and released details of his hospital visits.
Still, several lawmakers called on Austin to resign for the dearth of transparency, though the White House rebuked those demands and doubled down on its support for the Defense Secretary as he battles cancer.
Austin’s re-hospitalization on Sunday comes just over every week after he publicly apologized for hiding that earlier hospital visit and pledged to be more transparent.
“We didn’t handle this right. And I didn’t handle this right. I must have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I must have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility,” Austin said at a Pentagon briefing.