It was the second time this year Austin, 70, was hospitalised – this time to address a bladder issue – since a December surgery to treat prostate cancer.
He triggered a political uproar last month after failing to disclose his surgery to the White House as well as a subsequent hospitalisation in January to deal with its complications. Even President Joe Biden did not know Austin was in the hospital until days later.
After taking questions from reporters last week to discuss his recovery, Austin returned to Walter Reed National Medical Center on Sunday after indications of an emergent bladder issue and was placed in critical care.
Austin was released from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon and “resumed his full functions and duties,” the Pentagon said in a statement. On advice of doctors, he will work from home before returning to the Pentagon later this week, it said. He is expected to make a full recovery, his doctors said in the statement.
The latest hospitalisation forced Austin to cancel a planned trip to Nato headquarters this week for defence talks as well as to host an in-person Ukraine-related meeting on Wednesday. Those Ukraine talks are instead being organised virtually.
“The secretary still intends to participate in the virtual Ukraine Defence Contact Group tomorrow. This includes delivering opening remarks,” Pentagon spokesman Sabrina Singh told a news briefing.
Both Ukraine and Nato are becoming hot button political issues ahead of November presidential elections in the US. Over the weekend, former Republican president Donald Trump called into question willingness to help defend members of the Western defence alliance if they failed to spend enough on defence.
Biden, who is seeking re-election in a possible rematch against Trump, blasted Trump’s remarks on Tuesday and also called on the top Republican in the House of Representatives to allow a vote on a Senate-passed $95.34 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Amid warnings from the House that it will focus instead on U.S. border security, Biden said failing to approve Ukraine war funding would amount to support for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.