Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 70, was hospitalized on January 1 and released on January 15th. He is pictured December 20 in this most recent pic .
'The secretary continues to recover well and, on the advice of doctors, will recuperate and perform his duties remotely for a period of time from home,' the Pentagon said in a statement.
He will have to do physical therapy and regular follow ups but is expected to make a full recovery, his doctors said. He needs no further treatment for his cancer.
Comment: As was stated in the comments on this article, this whole story stinks to high heaven. Too many questions remain unanswered. It seems rather obvious that the prostate cancer narrative is covering for something.
'I'm grateful for the excellent care I received at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and want to thank the outstanding doctors and nursing staff for their professionalism and superb support,' Austin said in a statement.
'Now, as I continue to recuperate and perform my duties from home, I'm eager to fully recover and return as quickly as possible to the Pentagon,' he said.
Austin, 70, caused a political firestorm for President Joe Biden's administration when he kept his original surgery and subsequent hospitalization a secret - including from the White House. Several lawmakers - both Republicans and Democrats - called for his resignation.
Biden stood by his defense secretary but did admonish him for a lapse in judgement.
While visiting small businesses in Allentown, Pa., on Friday, Biden was asked if he has confidence in Austin, to which he responded: 'I do.' Asked if it was a lapse in judgment for Austin to not inform him of his hospitalization, Biden said: 'Yes.'
Austin had surgery for prostate cancer on Dec. 22nd and went home the next day. On New Year's Day he was rushed to the hospital with complications.
Biden wasn't told of defense secretary's whereabouts until Jan. 4th. Austin didn't disclose the cause of his surgery - his prostate cancer - until Jan. 9th after facing days of questions about his hospitalization.
Biden previously has indicated he will stand by his defense secretary but White House officials agreed the situation was a head-scratcher.
The White House is conducting a review of the matter.
The Pentagon's inspecter general also is investigating the mishandling of Austin's secret hospitalization as the firestorm around the defense secretary continues.
Inspector General Robert Storch said his office would examine any breaches of protocol surrounding Austin's surgery for prostate cancer, his rehospitalization for complications and the lack of disclosure to the White House and general public.
'The objective of the review is to examine the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions related to the Secretary of Defense's hospitalization in December 2023-January 2024, and assess whether the DoD's policies and procedures are sufficient to ensure timely and appropriate notifications and the effective transition of authorities as may be warranted due to health-based or other unavailability of senior leadership,' Storch wrote in a memo to senior Defense Department officials.
Austin has faced a barrage of criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike for failing to disclose he was in the hospital while the country was facing national security situations in the Ukraine and Middle East. Some lawmakers have called for his resignation.
Officials have blamed the communications breakdown on key officials being out of the office. Austin Chief of staff Kelly Magsamen had the flu and public affairs chief Chris Meagher was at doctors' appointments with his pregnant wife, who gave birth to their first child on Friday.
Austin kept his original surgery on Dec. 22 a secret from President Biden and his administration. At the time Austin underwent anesthesia and was unconscious. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was given Austin's powers at that time but not told the reason.
But Pentagon officials also didn't tell the White House for four days that Austin had returned to the hospital on Jan. 1 after experiencing severe pain. He was taken there by ambulance.
Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch is conducting an independent review of Lloyd Austin's hospitalization
Biden was told Austin had prostate cancer on Tuesday of last week - the same day the public was informed, sparking more questions about the transparency of the administration and whether the public can trust their government.
'Nobody at the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning and the President was informed immediately after we were,' White House spokesman John Kirby said at the daily press briefing.
Comment: Interesting that no one knew Austin had prostate cancer. And that after only being diagnosed in December, the doctors are now rather conveniently saying he "needs no further treatment for his cancer." It's almost as if the story was concocted on the fly.
Kirby got defensive as he was repeatedly queried about why the commander-in-chief didn't know the conditions or the where abouts of his top military officer.
'We all recognize that this didn't unfold the way it should, on so many levels, not just the notification process of the chain of command, but the transparency issue. We all recognize that. And I think we all want to make sure we learn from that,' Kirby said.
'It's certainly not good, which is why we want to learn from this and we want to make sure that it doesn't happen again.'
He also conceded: 'It is not optimal for a situation like this to go as long as it did without the commander-in-chief knowing about it or the national security adviser knowing about it, or frankly other leaders at the Department of Defense. It's not the way this is supposed to happen.'
Austin was hospitalized to be treated for prostate cancer, the Pentagon revealed on Tuesday after days of criticism for hiding the defense secretary's secret hospitalization. Biden was told by his chief of staff Jeffrey Zients.
'On Dec 22 after consultation with his medical team, he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer,' the hospital said in a statement about Austin.
His cancer was 'diagnosed early and his prognosis is excellent.' But he also suffered complications on Jan. 1 that required an ambulance to take him to the hospital.
His complications included 'nausea with severe abdominal, leg and hip pain.' The early diagnosis was a urinary tract infection but further examination showed Austin, 70, had a fluid build up in his abdomen that was impairing the function of his small intestines.
The infection was treated by a tube placed through is nose that went down to his stomach. The infection has cleared, the statement said, and Austin 'continues to make progress.' He 'never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia,' the statement said although it also said Austin underwent anesthesia for the Dec. 22 surgery.
The announcement came as more lawmakers began to question why Austin was hospitalized and why it took the Pentagon four days to inform President Biden and five days to inform the public. Senior administration and defense officials were not told for days about his hospitalization or his cancer.
Eight in ten men and six in ten black men are diagnosised with prostate cancer every year. The risk grows for men as they age. It is the most common cancer among men in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 5-year relative survival rate for prostate cancer in the United States is 97%.
Meanwhile, the White House on Tuesday ordered cabinet secretaries to keep it informed when they may not be able to perform their duties as the fallout from Austin's hospitalization continues.
White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients, in a memo, directed cabinet officers to examine their policies for delegating authority when a secretary is out of commission and to send those procedures to the White House for review.
He also made clear that White House officials expected to be kept up to date about developments like major medical issues.
'Notify the Offices of Cabinet Affairs and White House Chief of Staff in the event of a delegation of authority or potential delegation,' Zients wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The New York Times. 'This notification should occur when agencies anticipate or are preparing for a delegation of authority and again when the delegation occurs.'
The Pengaton said on Tuesday it is correcting its procedures.
'The department is taking immediate steps to correct our notification procedures,' Pentagon press secretary Major General Patrick Ryder said at his briefing.
'Nothing is more important to the Secretary of Defense and the Department of Defense than the trust and confidence of the American people and the public we serve and will continue to work every day and work hard every day to earn and deserve that trust,' he said.
He noted the Pentagon was conducting an internal review of the matter.
'We want to make sure that notifications are happening in a timely way. And this way, as we've acknowledged, there were some shortfalls and so it's important that we go back and look at what those shortfalls work. What could have been done better and make sure that going forward. We're improving those processes,' he said.
'We're committed to making sure that we don't do this again. And then we do a better job next time.'
Zients also directed Cabinet officials to ensure power is transferred 'when a cabinet member is traveling to areas with limited or no access to communication, undergoing hospitalization or a medical procedure requiring general anesthesia, or otherwise in a circumstance when he or she may be unreachable.'
The memo was sent out as President Biden and his team continue to deal with the political headache left to them after Austin failed to inform them of his hospitalization until four days after it occurred.
Austin could have broken the law by failing to report his absence, the Pentagon has launched a full investigation into the matter and one Republican lawmaker filed articles of impeachment against the defense secretary.
And Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Deluzio on Wednesday became the first Democratic voice in Congress to call for Austin's resignation.
And then this (see the image subtitle): So, no image from after his Kiev visit.
It becomes more and more plausible that he received a bit more than the usual bag of cash there ...