{"id":80970,"date":"2024-02-12T21:03:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T21:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/12\/lloyd-austin-undergoes-procedure-expected-to-resume-duties-tuesday\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:09:02","slug":"lloyd-austin-undergoes-procedure-expected-to-resume-duties-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2024\/02\/12\/lloyd-austin-undergoes-procedure-expected-to-resume-duties-tuesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Lloyd Austin undergoes procedure, expected to resume duties Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remained hospitalized Monday<\/a>, following a non-surgical procedure to address a bladder issue that sent him on Sunday to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin\u2019s most recent issue<\/a> is not expected to affect his prostate cancer prognosis, his doctors said in a release Monday, and he is expected to be able to resume his normal duties on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current bladder issue is not expected to change his anticipated full recovery,\u201d Dr. John Maddox, Walter Reed\u2019s trauma director, and Dr. Gregory Chestnut, Walter Reed\u2019s head of prostate disease research, said in a joint statement. \u201cHis cancer prognosis remains excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has been acting defense secretary since late Sunday afternoon, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Monday. Hicks was notified of Austin\u2019s move to Walter Reed at the same time as White House and congressional officials, Ryder said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryder did not say whether Austin\u2019s \u201cbladder issue\u201d is related to the urinary tract infection that sent him to Walter Reed for two weeks earlier this year, a complication from a prostate cancer procedure completed Dec. 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin has canceled an upcoming trip to Europe, for which he was scheduled to leave Tuesday. He plans to participate remotely in a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on Wednesday, Ryder said, but will be replaced by Celeste Wallander, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, if he is not well enough to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin will be represented by NATO Ambassador Julie Smith on Thursday at a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\n\t