United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin received a prostate cancer diagnosis last month. On December 22nd he underwent a prostatectomy, which required general anesthesia. On January 1st he was admitted to the hospital due to complications from that surgery. A recent statement released said that his infection had cleared and “he continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery although this can be a slow process.” He has access to secure communications and “continues to monitor DoD’s operations worldwide.”

Austin has received criticism for his delayed disclosure to President Biden and the general public. Cabinet members are expected to inform the President of any major surgeries or procedures that require anesthesia, as well as the transfer of duties to any subordinate. Biden was not told about the surgery until January 4th, almost two weeks after. A public statement was released on January 5th stating that Lloyd “had complications following a recent elective medical procedure” but did not go into detail about what the procedure was or any diagnosis. Specifics of a cancer diagnosis came out earlier this week.

Read more of Austin’s story here.