Defense Secretary Austin was treated for prostate cancer and a urinary tract infection, doctors say
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer and his recent undisclosed hospitalization was for surgery and later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that surgery, doctors said Tuesday.
Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on December 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer. Austin developed the infection a week later. Senior government and defense officials were not told about his hospitalization or his cancer for days.
According to doctors, the cancer was discovered when Austin underwent regular screenings in early December. They said he “underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure” and went home the next day. But on January 1, he reported nausea and severe abdominal, hip and leg pain due to the infection.
They said his prostate cancer was caught early and his prognosis is excellent.
The cancer announcement came after days of questions about why Austin was hospitalized and why President Joe Biden and other top officials had not heard about his hospitalization in days. Several Republican lawmakers even said Austin should be impeached.
Earlier Tuesday, as the controversy continued, the White House chief of staff ordered Cabinet members or secretaries to notify his office if they were ever unable to perform their duties. Meanwhile, the Biden administration, reeling from Austin’s surprise illness last week, is conducting a policy review.
Jeff Zients said in a memo to Cabinet secretaries that they must send the White House by Friday all existing procedures for delegating authority in the event of incapacity or loss of communication. While the review is underway, he is requiring agencies to notify his office and the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs if an agency experiences or plans to experience a circumstance in which a Cabinet chief is not performing his or her duties can perform.
Biden and other top officials were not told for days that Austin had been hospitalized and handed power to his deputy. A Pentagon spokesman blamed the incident on a key staffer being ill with the flu.
“Agencies should ensure that delegations are issued when a Cabinet member travels to areas with limited or no access to communications, undergoes hospitalization or a medical procedure requiring general anesthesia, or otherwise in a circumstance where he or she may be unreachable,” Zients said. memo states. It also requires that agencies document when such a transfer of authority occurs and that the person fulfilling the acting role promptly contact relevant White House staff.
A copy of the memo was obtained by the Associated Press.
Austin, 70, went to the hospital on December 22 for what the Pentagon press secretary called an “elective procedure,” but one so severe that Austin temporarily transferred some of his authorities to his deputy, without her or any other American tell leaders why. The next day he went home.
He also transferred some of his powers to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks after he experienced severe pain and was taken back by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and placed in intensive care on January 1 – although Hicks explained the reason was not told for three days. . The White House was not told that Austin was in the hospital until January 4, and the public and Congress did not learn of it until a day later.
The Pentagon has announced its own internal review and in a memo issued Monday broadened the circle of leaders who would be briefed on any delegation of authorities by the Secretary of Defense to ensure that in the future “appropriate and timely notice has been given to the President and the White House and, where appropriate, the United States Congress and the American public.”
In the future, each time authority is transferred, a broader group of officials will also be notified, including the Pentagon general counsel, the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Combatant Commanders, service secretaries, the service chiefs , the White House Situation Room, and the senior staff of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense.