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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remains hospitalized however is recovering and is in “good spirits,” despite the uproar over the non-disclosure of his hospital keep for a number of days, the Pentagon mentioned Monday.
Austin was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, on Jan. 1 for extreme ache following a Dec. 22, 2023 elective process.
“He is no longer in the intensive care unit but is recovering in a more private area of the hospital,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder mentioned in an announcement. “He continues to experience discomfort, but his prognosis is good.”
DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN HAS NO PLANS TO RESIGN, PENTAGON SAYS
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remains hospitalized per week after struggling server ache following an elective process, the Pentagon mentioned Monday. (Ian Waldie/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
“Since resuming duties on Friday evening, the secretary has received operational updates and has provided necessary guidance,” Ryder added. “He has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor [Defense Department] day-to-day operations worldwide.”
The day after Austin was admitted to the hospital, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks assumed partial duties from the secretary. On Jan. 4, Hicks and the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had been instructed of Austin’s hospitalization, the Pentagon mentioned.
Austin assumed his full secretarial duties on Friday. Since then, he has acquired operational updates and remains in contact along with his employees, Ryder mentioned. He additionally took an operational replace from the U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Erik Kurilla together with Deputy Secretary Hicks and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, Jr.
“I expect him to be in contact throughout the day today with senior leadership of the department and the White House even as he focuses on his own recovery,” Ryder mentioned. “We in the department, of course, all wish him a speedy recovery,” Ryder mentioned.
Ryder mentioned a selected date for Austin’s launch from the hospital has not been decided.
The Pentagon constructing in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday, April 21, 2023. (Photographer: Tom Brenner/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
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President Biden, the National Security Council and high Pentagon leaders – together with Hicks, had been saved in the darkish for days that Austin had been taken to the hospital’s intensive care unit for remedy on New Year’s. Some congressional lawmakers have known as for Austin to resign over the matter.
Earlier on Monday, Ryder mentioned Austin’s chief of employees, Kelly Magsamen, did not inform the White House about Austin’s hospitalization as a result of she had been sick with the flu.
The secretary would not have plans to step down, the Pentagon mentioned.
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