Joe Biden’s top military adviser, Lloyd Austin, has been hospitalized with an “emergency bladder issue” and his duties have been transferred to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
The Secretary of Defense’s admission to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was announced early Sunday evening, and the Pentagon outlined his medical condition in a statement.
Mr. Austin is scheduled to travel to Brussels to attend a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Liaison Group on Wednesday. It is unclear whether his hospitalization will affect these travel plans.
The Pentagon previously notified Hicks, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House, and Congress about Lloyd’s hospitalization, and Hicks “stands ready to assume the duties and duties of the Secretary of Defense as appropriate.” said.
“At this time, the Secretary is maintaining his duties and duties,” the statement said, adding that Mr. Austin “proceeded to the hospital with the classified and unclassified communications systems necessary to carry out his duties.”
after that statementPentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Austin, 70, later transferred his duties to an aide.
Sunday’s notification regarding Austin is in stark contrast to the defense secretary’s previous hospitalization late last year due to complications following prostate cancer surgery.This is what the White House looked like i don’t know A look at Austin’s previous three days in the hospital.
At that time, Austin underwent surgery at Reed Hospital on December 22, 2023. He was discharged from the hospital the next day, but returned on January 1st. Hicks, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan and the then-president were informed of Austin’s diagnosis, treatment and hospitalization on January 4.
The Pentagon then did not release notification of Austin’s hospitalization and absence until January 5th.
This sparked a political backlash, including an investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general. Later, the Pentagon announced that Chief of Staff Austin had the flu, exacerbating the delay in information about his condition.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Austin’s participation in national security matters was “no different from any other day, except that he briefed the president on options and participated in discussions from the hospital.” ” he said.
But at a time of heightened global tensions and a U.S. military campaign against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the perception that this person has important links to the chain of command has increased. This raised serious concerns about internal communication.
Prior to his discharge from the hospital on January 15, Austin reportedly orchestrated the launch of a U.S. retaliatory attack on the Houthi militia and watched in real time from his hospital room.
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This followed the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrat Jack Reed, and his counterpart, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker. I sent a letter to Austin asking for a treasurer. Regarding his absence from the Department of Defense headquarters.
“We are concerned that important notification procedures were not followed during your treatment over the past few weeks,” they wrote, adding that the committee “has serious questions about this incident. The commissioners need a full explanation to ensure this incident never happens again.” ”.
Sunday’s statement about Austin did not elaborate on how much his recent hospitalization was related to his previous hospitalization.
The announcement comes as Biden said he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch an attack on Rafah without a “credible” security plan for the more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there. Announced hours later.
The Israeli prime minister’s threat to attack Rafah comes as the Israeli military, a key US ally, aims to attack Gaza in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Co-authored with Associated Press
