january 1st for complications following a recent elective medical procedure. in a statement the pentagon says that austin transferred responsibilities to deputy defense secretary, kathleen hicks, on january 2nd. but notably, a senior defense official tells nbc news, hicks was not notified until thursday the fourth, a full three days after austin was admitted. according to a u.s. official, that's when the pentagon also inform national security adviser, jake sullivan, who then told president biden. the defense department weighing one more day, january 5th, to inform the american public and lawmakers on capitol hill, some of whom were calling for austin to face consequences. still unclear tonight, six days after austin was admitted to the hospital what that undisclosed elective medical procedure was, the complications that resulted from it, and when austin will be released from walter reed. a pentagon spokesperson tonight