Attorney General Merrick Garland to undergo back surgery

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland will undergo lower back surgery on Saturday and will temporarily hand off his duties to his top deputy, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

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Garland, 71, will be under general anesthesia for about 90 minutes, according to The Washington Post. He is expected to return home the same day as his surgery and plans to return to work next week.

In a statement, Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco will assume Garland’s duties shortly before the surgery and will relinquish them after he recovers from general anesthesia.

Hinojosa added that Garland’s “interlaminar decompression” surgery would address stenosis.

The announcement about Garland comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returned to work at the Pentagon after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to The Associated Press. Austin was criticized for not informing President Joe Biden and other senior administration officials about his Dec. 22 surgery, the Post reported.

In the wake of Austin’s hospitalization, the White House issued new guidelines for agencies to follow notification protocols in the case of a key administration official’s absence, CNN reported.

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