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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized earlier this week for unspecified reasons but is recuperating, the Pentagon said late Friday, after withholding the information for days.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Austin, who is 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington on Monday “for complications following a recent elective medical procedure.”

Ryder did not provide additional details, but said that Austin, a former Army general who was nominated for the high-profile post by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">President Biden</a> and became <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/lloyd-austin-defense-secretary-biden/2021/01/22/b43aa57c-5cd2-11eb-aaad-93988621dd28_story.html" target=_blank>the nation’s first African American defense secretary</a> in 2021, was “recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today.”

It was not clear when he could be discharged, or why the Pentagon did not disclose Austin’s hospitalization when it occurred earlier in the week.

The announcement came amid heightened tension in the Middle East, where armed groups with links to Iran have launched attacks on U.S. military facilities in Iraq and Syria and on ships operating in the region. A<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/04/us-strike-baghdad/" target=_blank> U.S. airstrike</a> in Baghdad on Thursday underscored the risk of deepening instability despite the Biden administration’s attempts to contain fallout from the war between U.S. ally Israel and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Hamas</a> militants in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/09/gaza-strip-israel-hamas-explained/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Gaza Strip</a>.

That effort has likewise been challenged by attacks by Iran-linked Houthi militants in Yemen, who have launched missiles at or fired on commercial ships in the Red Sea. On Sunday, a day before Austin was admitted to the hospital, U.S. forces <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/31/us-navy-houthi-red-sea-gaza/" target=_blank>engaged in a firefight</a> with militants when they assaulted a Singapore-flagged, Danish-owned shipping vessel transiting the area. The administration has established a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/12/10/houthi-attacks-naval-task-force/" target=_blank>new multinational maritime coalition</a> in a bid to stem the violence.

Austin, who frequently travels internationally, returned from a days-long trip to Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East in late December.

Ryder, in <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3633270/statement-from-pentagon-press-secretary-maj-gen-pat-ryder-on-secretary-of-defen/" target=_blank>a statement</a>, said that Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks had been prepared to exercise the powers of defense secretary if required because of Austin’s medical treatment. In a later email, Ryder said that Austin remained in the hospital and had fully resumed his job responsibilities on Friday evening.

He said that Hicks had “made some routine decisions on Secretary Austin’s behalf” this week.

“Of note, the secretary did not have to affirmatively delegate his duties because by statute, the deputy secretary is automatically authorized to perform the duties of the secretary if he is unable to perform them,” Ryder added.

A senior defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation, declined to say what procedure Austin had undergone, or what the subsequent complication had been.

The official said that Austin had been alert Thursday as U.S. forces carried out this week’s Iraq strike, noting that he and Biden had previously authorized the operation.

The Pentagon Press Association, an organization representing media covering the Defense Department, expressed frustration about the department’s “failure to notify the public and the media” about the hospitalization, and requested a meeting with Pentagon leaders to discuss the department’s handling of the matter.

“The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for … days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage,” the group said in a letter to Ryder and Chris Meagher, another official overseeing Pentagon public affairs.

The press association said that the public has a right to know when Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia or delegate their duties as the result of a medical procedure. “This has been the practice even up to the president’s level,” the letter said. “As the nation’s top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no claim to privacy in this situation.”

Ryder, citing “an evolving situation,” said that in determining when to issue the announcement, the Pentagon “had to consider a number of factors, including medical and personal privacy issues.”

New York Press Club award for political reporting, 2012

Georgetown University, BA in English

Harvard University, master's in public policy

Missy Ryan writes about national security and defense for The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2014 and has written about the Pentagon and the State Department. She has reported from Iraq, Ukraine, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile.

Missy Ryan

Gerald R. Ford Foundation Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, presented in 2023 for coverage of the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan and its aftermath

Major Megan McClung Award, presented by Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in 2023 for coverage of the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan and its aftermath

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, presented in 2022 for team coverage of the attack on the U.S. Capitol

Major Megan McClung Award, presented by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in 2020 for distinguished reporting about an infantry unit's reintegration into civilian life as the war in Afghanistan wound down

 Colonel Robert D. Heinl Jr. Award, presented by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in 2018 for distinguished feature writing and accompanying podcast about a family of brothers in World War II

Major Megan McClung Award, presented by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in 2011 for distinguished reporting alongside infantry Marines in combat in Afghanistan

University of Massachusetts at Amherst, BA in journalism

University of Maryland at College Park, master's in journalism

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Dan Lamothe joined The Washington Post in 2014 to cover the U.S. military. He has written about the Armed Forces for more than 15 years, traveling extensively, embedding with five branches of service and covering combat in Afghanistan.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Jan. 1

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