JANUARY 15, 2024:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been released from the hospital where he was treated for complications from surgery for prostate cancer he kept secret from senior Biden administration officials for weeks. Austin was released Monday and is expected to work from home as he recovers. The 70-year-old Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat cancer detected earlier in the month. Austin developed an infection and was hospitalized Jan. 1, 2024. President Joe Biden found out Jan. 4. Austin’s lack of transparency has triggered reviews on procedures for when a Cabinet member must transfer decision-making authorities to a deputy, as Austin did.
JANUARY 9, 2024:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House chief of staff is ordering Cabinet heads to notify his office if they ever can’t perform their duties. It comes as the Biden administration is reeling from learning of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s surprise illness last week. Chief of staff Jeff Zients on Tuesday (Jan. 9, 2024) directed that the Cabinet heads send the White House any existing procedures for delegating authority in the event of incapacitation or loss of communication by Friday. While the review is ongoing, he is requiring agencies to notify his office and the office of Cabinet affairs at the White House if an agency experiences or plans to experience a circumstance where an Cabinet head can’t perform their duties.
JANUARY 8, 2024, UPDATE:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday the administration will review what rules or procedures weren’t followed when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not disclose his hospitalization for days to President Joe Biden and top officials at the Pentagon and the National Security Council. The Pentagon maintained its silence on why Austin was hospitalized and said he has no plans to resign.
“We’ll do what’s akin to a hot wash and try to see if processes and procedures need to be changed at all or modified so that we can learn from this,” John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said when asked whether Biden wanted a review of what happened.
Austin, 70, was hospitalized on Jan. 1, 2024, which the Pentagon did not disclose to the public until Friday. Biden and Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, were not aware of Austin’s condition until Thursday.
The Pentagon still has not said what procedure Austin had on Dec. 22 that eventually put him in such pain that he was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year’s Day and put into intensive care.
“He was conscious, but in quite a bit of pain,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters on Monday.
He said Austin, who has resumed his duties, is now out of intensive care and has been moved to a private room. He remains in recovery and his prognosis is “good,” but it is not known when he will be released from the hospital. Ryder said Austin has no plans to resign.
Austin spent the evening of Jan. 1 undergoing tests and evaluation. The next day, “due to the secretary’s condition and on the basis of medical advice,” some authorities were transferred to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, through a standard email notification that often does not provide the reason for transfer, Ryder said.
Ryder said he, Austin’s chief of staff and senior military adviser were notified of the defense secretary’s hospitalization on Jan. 2. Hicks, who was in Puerto Rico, was not told the reason for the transfer of authorities until Jan. 4.
The Pentagon has said the chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, did not inform the White House because she had the flu.
Kirby, speaking to reporters on Air Force One as Biden traveled to South Carolina, said there is an “expectation” among members of Biden’s Cabinet that if one becomes hospitalized, “that will be notified up the chain of command.”
Still, White House officials on Monday emphasized that Austin continues to retain Biden’s confidence. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden appreciated Austin’s statement on Saturday, in which he took responsibility about the lack of transparency on his hospitalization.
“There is no plan for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continue the leadership that he’s been demonstrating,” Kirby said.
JANUARY 8, 2024:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is releasing new details about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s nearly weeklong hospitalization. It says he had a medical procedure Dec. 22, 2023, and went home a day later, but was admitted to intensive care on Jan. 1 when he began experiencing severe pain. The latest information comes as Republicans and Democrats in Congress expressed sharp concerns about the secrecy of Austin’s hospital stay and the fact that the president and other senior leaders were kept in the dark about it for days. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and top government leaders were not notified until Jan. 4 that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1.
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