Austin is released from the hospital and returns to work

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was released from the hospital on Tuesday, the Pentagon said.

Mr. Austin, 70, had canceled a trip to Brussels to meet with NATO colleagues about Russia's war in Ukraine after returning to Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda for the second time this year with complications from a prostate cancer surgery. Doctors at Walter Reed said Monday that Mr. Austin had undergone a nonsurgical procedure under general anesthesia to address a bladder problem.

Mr. Austin had transferred his authority to Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense. He took back that authority at 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Pentagon said in a statement.

“On the advice of his physicians, Secretary Austin will recover and perform his duties remotely from home for a period of time before returning to work at the Pentagon later this week,” the statement said.

His doctors at Walter Reed, John Maddox and Gregory Chesnut, said in a statement that Mr. Austin's bladder problem was not related to his cancer diagnosis and “will have no effect on his excellent cancer prognosis.”

Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, told reporters at a news conference that Mr. Austin would attend the Ukraine meeting in Brussels on Wednesday via video teleconference.

On December 22, Mr. Austin underwent a prostatectomy, which involved the removal of all or part of the prostate gland. He was released after surgery but returned just over a week later with an infection. He was put in intensive care and the doctors said they had drained excess abdominal fluid.

Mr. Austin was widely criticized for not immediately disclosing his illness and absence to the White House, a breach of protocol that stunned officials across the administration, including the Pentagon.

He remained in the hospital for two weeks in January and returned to the Pentagon on January 29.

But on Sunday he was back in hospital with persistent bladder problems.