Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returns to work at the Pentagon after cancer surgery complications

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has returned to work at the Pentagon after nearly a month’s absence because of prostate cancer and has been meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Austin said Monday he is glad to be back and is “still recovering.” Austin was last in the Pentagon on Dec. 21. The defense secretary had prostate cancer surgery Dec. 22 and went by ambulance back to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 because of complications from the surgery. Austin didn’t tell President Joe Biden or other key leaders about his hospitalization until days later. Austin’s secrecy prompted changes in federal guidelines and triggered reviews into his department’s notification procedures.