Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin remains hospitalized after mystery procedure; DoD remains mum on release --Pentagon officials continue to dodge questions surrounding details of Lloyd Austin's hospitalization and release date | 7 Jan 2024 | U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin has been hospitalized since the first day of 2024, and while Pentagon officials have not said when he will be released, they continue to avoid saying why he went to the hospital in the first place. Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last Monday, for what Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder described as complications from an elective medical procedure. On Sunday, Ryder told Fox News that Austin had an elective medical procedure at Walter Reed on Dec. 22, 2023. Austin was on leave at the time of the procedure, and he returned home the next day. But on Jan. 1, he started experiencing "severe pain," and was taken back to Walter Reed and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).