The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been released from the hospital after receiving treatment for a bladder issue that prompted him to transfer duties to his deputy for a second time in two months.
A statement was released within hours of his departure from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, part of a shift toward more transparency after Austin, 70, faced blowback for not informing top brass in the Biden administration and Congress about his hospitalization on January 1 for complications stemming from a prostate cancer procedure in December.
“Following consultation with medical staff, Secretary Austin was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center today at approximately 3:30 pm,” the Department of Defense (DoD) said in the statement. “He is recovering well and resumed his full functions and duties today at 5 pm….
