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The Pentagon announced on Sunday<\/a> that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had been taken that afternoon to a military hospital to be treated for \u201csymptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Austin was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., at 2:20 p.m., a Pentagon spokesman, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, said in a statement. He added that the deputy defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been notified, as well as the White House and members of Congress.<\/p>\n In a second statement on Sunday evening, General Ryder said that Mr. Austin, 70, had \u201ctransferred the functions and duties\u201d of his office to the deputy defense secretary, Kathleen H. Hicks, at about 4:55 p.m.<\/p>\n The announcements appeared to be aimed at showing transparency around Mr. Austin\u2019s medical condition and stressing the fact that multiple top officials across the U.S. government had been informed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Austin came under widespread criticism<\/a> last month when he went to the hospital for several days for treatment for complications related to a recent prostate cancer surgery. He had initially kept his hospital visit a secret from top administration officials, including President Biden, the White House national security adviser, the secretary of state and senior officials in the Pentagon, including those immediately under him in the office.<\/p>\n Mr. Austin also had not informed the president that he had undergone the original surgery in December.<\/p>\n