Austin transferred power after taking meds that could affect cognitive function

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was given medication during his hospitalization last year that could affect cognitive functions before he transferred his authority to his deputy, according to a new report from the Defense Department’s inspector general.

Austin was hospitalized on Jan. 1, 2024, with complications from a procedure he received about two weeks earlier to treat recently diagnosed prostate cancer, but it was not until the next day, after he had been moved to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, that he transferred his authorities as secretary to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks.