The Department of Justice moved quickly to prevent a Lloyd Austin situation, announcing that Attorney General Merrick Garland will undergo back surgery this Saturday, with his duties temporarily being handed off to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. It may seem mundane, but these protocols are necessary. The highest-ranking law enforcement official in the country is about to go under the knife—you need to have some contingency plan if things go wrong (via WaPo):
Attorney General Merrick Garland will hand off duties over the weekend to his top deputy while he undergoes lower back surgery on Saturday, Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement.
Hinojosa described the surgery as “minimally invasive” and said Garland, 71, would be under general anesthesia for about 90 minutes. He is expected to return home the same day as the surgery and plans to report back to work next week.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco will assume the duties of attorney general shortly before the surgery and carry them out until Garland recovers from general anesthesia, according to the statement.
Hinojosa said the “interlaminar decompression” surgery would address stenosis.
It is standard protocol for top government officials to announce to the public when they are undergoing medical treatment that could leave them incapacitated.
The article mentioned the fiasco at the Pentagon earlier this month, where Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd had a medical procedure related to his prostate cancer. A severe infection arose, causing Mr. Lloyd to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit. He didn’t tell anyone about his hospital stay. No one knew he was in the ICU starting on January 1.
It took three days until someone in the Biden White House knew the secretary of defense was incapacitated. The 911 call in which an aide instructs emergency services to arrive as discreetly as possible without sirens or lights only added to the narrative that this was a cover-up. Lloyd apologized, but there is an argument that he should resign over this incident.
H/T Daily Caller
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