pentagon — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is out of the hospital just in time to address allies at a critical meeting focused on more support for U
pentagon — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is out of the hospital just in time to address allies at a critical meeting focused on more support for Ukraine.
Austin was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center late Tuesday and resumed his full duties less than two hours later, according to a statement issued by the Pentagon.
The White House, Congress, the deputy secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman were all notified, the statement added.
Austin had been at Walter Reed since Sunday, when he was hospitalized for what the Defense Department described as «an emergent bladder issue.»
Austin’s doctors said Tuesday that the issue was related to the secretary’s prostate cancer surgery in December but that «it was corrected with nonsurgical procedures» on Monday.
«He remained in good condition throughout,» the doctors said in a statement. «He is anticipated to continue his full recovery.»
The Pentagon statement said the secretary will «recuperate and perform his duties remotely from home for a period before returning to work at the Pentagon later this week.»
«He has full access to the unclassified and classified communications systems necessary to perform his duties,» it added.
The latest health scare forced Austin to cancel plans to fly to Brussels this week for an in-person meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) and a separate meeting of NATO defense ministers.
