The head of the Pentagon is hospitalized in intensive care after surgery for cancer and delegates duties to his deputy

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is battling prostate cancer, has been hospitalized an intensive care unit after being hospitalized for an “urgent bladder problem,” the Pentagon said Sunday.

“This evening, after a series of tests and evaluations, the Secretary was admitted to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for supportive care and close monitoring,” the statement said.

The Undersecretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks “He assumed duties and duties” shortly before 5pm (7pm in Argentina), Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement, adding that the White House was informed of his hospitalization.

Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer and recently underwent surgery.

The Secretary of Defense he disappeared from the public eye at the end of December and again in early January after suffering complications from cancer treatment, having hidden initially both diagnosis and treatment to President Joe Biden and the rest of the government.

This time, the public was alerted about two hours after Austin was admitted to hospital Sunday afternoon.

Kathleen Hicks, manager

Austin was taken by his security team to the medical center “to be treated for the suggested symptoms an emerging bladder problem“Rider said.

Ryder had previously said Austin retained “the duties and obligations of his position,” but hours later indicated as much Hicks would take over the position.

“Currently, It is unclear how long he will remain hospitalized. Secretary Austin,” according to a statement released later, citing doctors John Maddox and Gregory Chesnut at the hospital.

A “good prognosis”

“The current bladder problem is not expected to alter his expected full recovery. His cancer prognosis remains excellent“they added.

The Defense Secretary apologized earlier this month after being heavily criticized for keeping previous hospital admissions secret.

“I should have informed the president of my cancer diagnosis,” he told reporters on February 1.

At the time, he said he was still recovering his legs hurt and he used a golf cart move inside the Pentagon.

These absences, as well as the current hospital stay, come at a time when the U.S is facing a spiraling crisis in the Middle Eastwith US forces in Iraq and Syria facing almost daily attacks from Iranian-backed fighters in retaliation for Washington’s strong support for Israel.

The top American official is too a key figure in the Biden administration’s attempts to maintain support for the Ukrainian struggle against the Russian invasion, in a context in which Republican deputies refuse to authorize new funds for military aid to Kiev.

Several Republican lawmakers They had previously called for Austin’s ouster, But Biden, while regretting the Pentagon chief’s error in judgment, said he continues to trust his defense secretary.

Austin, an imposing man over 1.80 meters tallhe is a very private person who avoids media attention, which he says influenced his decision to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret.

But he admitted that “taking this kind of work it means losing some privacy that most of us expect.”

“The American people have a right to know if their leaders are facing health issues that could impair their ability to carry out their duties, even temporarily,” he added.