WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on Monday for complications from a minor elective procedure, the Pentagon said Friday evening.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Austin has been hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center since Monday, according to The Associated Press.
Ryder said that it’s unclear when Austin will be released, the AP reported.
The AP reported that the Pentagon failed to disclose Austin’s hospitalization, which is not normal practice with other senior U.S. and Cabinet officials including the president.
“The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a letter of protest to Ryder and the Assistant Defense Secretary for Public Affairs, Chris Meagher, according to the AP. “At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader.”
The Pentagon Press Association represents media members who cover the Defense Department, the AP said.
Ryder did not elaborate on Austin’s medical issues due to patient privacy, The New York Times reported.
In a statement obtained by the Times, Ryder said Austin, 70, is “recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today.”
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks “was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the secretary, if required,” according to the newspaper.
Austin spent about 41 years in the military, the AP reported. He retired in 2016 as a four-star Army general. He was nominated as the country’s first Black defense secretary by President Joe Biden in 2021, The Washington Post reported.
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