Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was back in the hospital Sunday, returning to Walter Reed National Military Center for what was characterized in a Pentagon statement as “symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue.”
“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was transported by his security detail to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be seen for symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue,” Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement. “The Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been notified. Additionally, White House and Congressional notifications have occurred.”
Kathleen Hicks is the deputy Defense secretary, and Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr. is chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The statement from Ryder, a major general, indicated that Austin “was retaining the functions and duties of his office.”
Austin was recently hospitalized at Walter Reed in Bethesda, Maryland, for complications from surgery he underwent in December for prostate cancer.
At issue at the time was that Austin didn’t immediately notify anyone that he was hospitalized, and even the White House was not aware of where Austin was for at least a few days. The notifications specified in Ryder’s statement were meant to address those issues.
He was released from the hospital Jan. 15. It is not known how long he might be in the hospital this time.
