The Biden administration has kept secret that Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center since Monday.
Lloyd was first placed in the intensive care unit in serious condition on Monday but has since been taking strides in the recovery process.
A reporter in touch with Austin’s staff shared, “I don’t have any updates to provide at this time in terms of when he’ll be discharged, but we will be sure to keep you and others updated.”
His illness has not been disclosed to the public at this time, but it was reported he was checked into the ICU over complications with surgery.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Hospitalized Since New Year's Day: Biden Administration Withholds Details on Severity and Duty Impairmentpic.twitter.com/84xvAZha7j
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 6, 2024
Here’s what Fox News added:
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in an intensive care unit for days but is now recovering and resumed full duties last night, according to new reports.
Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday following complications with an elective medical procedure, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder revealed in a statement Friday.
The news was kept from the press for days due to “medical and personal privacy issues,” Ryder said, amid heightened tensions in the Middle East this week when a U.S. strike killed four members of an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia group in Baghdad and two suicide bombs in Iran left at least 103 people dead as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continues.
According to Politico Pentagon reporter Lara Seligman, Austin remained in hospital Saturday and resumed full duties last night.
“I don’t have any updates to provide at this time in terms of when he’ll be discharged, but we will be sure to keep you and others updated,” Seligman wrote on X, quoting Ryder.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for comment but has not received a response.
INSANE behavior from the Pentagon
It claims Deputy SecDef Kathleen Hicks was “prepared to act” while SecDef Lloyd Austin was in the ICU
…but Hicks was ON VACATION in PUERTO RICO the whole time! pic.twitter.com/9L1mWG58Gn
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) January 6, 2024
Per AP:
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, his press secretary said, in the Defense Department’s first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted five days earlier to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Friday that it was not clear when Austin would be released from the hospital, but said the secretary was “recovering well.”
The Pentagon’s failure to disclose Austin’s hospitalization is counter to normal practice with the president and other senior U.S. officials and Cabinet members. The Pentagon Press Association, which represents media members who cover the Defense Department, sent a letter of protest to Ryder and Chris Meagher, the assistant defense secretary for public affairs.
“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 PPA said in its letter. “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.”
Pentagon waited three days to inform White House that the defense secretary was hospiatlized in ICU https://t.co/5nCJuUZgf2
— Willem Middelkoop (@wmiddelkoop) January 6, 2024
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