Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized with symptoms related to emergent bladder issues, according to Jennifer Griffin, chief national-security correspondent for Fox News.
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Just before 5 p.m., those duties and functions were transferred to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, Ryder later said.
Austin was expected to leave Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday morning to travel to Brussels for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday and the NATO Defense Ministerial on Thursday.
It is too soon to tell if Austin will be able to travel, a senior U.S. defense official said, adding his doctors are assessing the secretary’s condition.
In December, Austin was admitted to Walter Reed and underwent prostate cancer surgery. He developed an infection a week later and was readmitted to the hospital.
May Austin recover quickly. Meanwhile, he should have his staff prepare a resignation letter. President Biden refused to fire the defense secretary after Austin went radio silent for days while hospitalized in early January, and we now know that Austin is still very much recovering. At a time when American warships are under fire in the Middle East, forward bases are threatened, and recruitment is woeful, the American people deserve a defense secretary who can commit every hour of his day to the nation’s concerns.
Retirement does a body good, Mr. Secretary. You can serve your country outside of the government.