US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III remains hospitalized after undergoing a medical procedure, but is functioning in his condition and spoke with President Joe Biden on Saturday, his press secretary reported today. Major General Pat Ryder.
Ryder offered this first report a day after Austin, 70, was hospitalized and took responsibility for not doing so sooner amid press reports suggesting he took some time to inform President Biden.
Ryder detailed today that the defense secretary is “hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, but doing well.”
Neither Secretary Austin nor his press secretary provided details on what type of medical procedure the senior official underwent, or on what day it was performed.
“While we do not have a specific date for her departure at this time, we will continue to provide updates on the secretary’s position as they become available,” Ryder said.
He added that Austin has been in contact with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown Jr. and his senior staff.
The defense secretary committed to be more transparent with information about his health status in a statement on Saturday.
“This was my medical procedure and I take full responsibility for my decisions regarding disclosure,” he asserted.
Based on government sources, several media outlets have indicated that Austin was hospitalized and spent four days in the intensive care unit.
Ryder said today that since the secretary resumed his duties on Friday evening, the official had “received operational updates and provided necessary guidance to his team.”
He assured that he has full access to the necessary information and “continues to monitor the daily operations of the Department of Defense around the world.”
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/LEARPMECVEUWWXXXPTPQ4ZCPTM.jpg "After the new missile launch, Kim Jong-un visited North Korea’s naval shipyards and asked them to “intensify war preparations”.")
