Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 70, has been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer.
The big picture: He had kept the surgery a secret from President Joe Biden and members of his administration.
- Austin is expected to work from home while in recovery.
- He had been admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22, the Pentagon said, where physicians performed a prostatectomy.
- Austin later developed a urinary infection and was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 1, where he was transferred the next day to the intensive care unit.
What we’re watching: Rep. Matt Rosendale (R–Montana) intends to file articles of impeachment against Austin for, in part, not disclosing the surgery.
- “Sec. Austin has violated his oath of office time and time again, and has jeopardized the lives of the American people,” Rosendale said in a news release.
- “Sec. Austin knowingly put the American people in danger and compromised our national security when he allowed a spy balloon from a foreign adversary to fly over Malmstrom Air Force Base – home to ICBMs – and allowed the Chinese Communist Party to gather intel on American citizens. Moreover, recent reports show that Sec. Austin lied about the balloon repeatedly, putting the American people in danger. This dishonesty seems to be a repeated pattern for the Secretary as he once again lied to our military and the American people about his health last week.”
