(Conservative Playbook)—Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is on the road to recovery after undergoing complications following an elective surgery, according to the Pentagon. Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on January 1st.
“On the evening of January 1, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for complications following a recent elective medical procedure,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder stated.
“He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today,” Ryder added.
The Pentagon revealed that Austin was hospitalized after the surgery, but not immediately after. The news of Austin’s hospitalization was shared with the media on Friday.
Ryder mentioned that the hospitalization was kept from the press due to “medical and personal privacy issues.”
“This has been an evolving situation in which we [have] had to consider a number of factors including medical and personal privacy issues,” Ryder told Fox News. “We are now in a position to update you.”
It is still unclear what the elective medical procedure was or the date of the surgery.
The Pentagon Press Association (PPA), an organization that represents journalists covering the Pentagon, sent a letter from its board of directors to Secretary Austin’s personnel on Friday evening.
The letter, which was addressed to Ryder and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Chris Meagher, expressed the organization’s “significant concern” about the Defense Department’s delayed disclosure of Austin’s hospitalization.
“We are writing to express our significant concerns about the Defense Department’s failure to notify the public and the media about Secretary Lloyd Austin’s current hospitalization,” the letter said. “The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage.”
The organization stated that the Defense Department’s disclosure “falls far below the normal disclosure standards” of when senior administration officials undergo surgery.
“It falls far below the normal disclosure standards that are customary by other federal departments when senior officials undergo medical procedures or are temporarily incapacitated,” the letter said.
The board argued that the American public deserves to know when their leaders are incapacitated.
“The public has a right to know when U.S. Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia or when duties are delegated as the result of any medical procedure,” the letter said. “That has been the practice even up to the president’s level. As the nation’s top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no claim to privacy in this situation.”
“At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader,” the letter concluded.
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has filled in while on a previously scheduled leave.
“At all times, the deputy secretary of defense was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the secretary, if required,” Ryder said.
Article generated from corporate media reports by Discern Reporter.
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