Defense secretary nominee undergoes back surgery

Ash Carter, the president’s nominee to succeed Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, underwent “long-planned” back surgery on Friday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

“Mr. Carter decided to go ahead with the previously scheduled procedure so that he could complete it before beginning his confirmation process,” Earnest said in a statement. “Mr. Carter is resting comfortably with his family and is looking forward to confirmation process and if confirmed, to serving with the men and women of the Defense Department.”

{mosads}Obama hailed Carter as “one of our nation’s foremost national security leaders” while announcing his nomination earlier this month.

Obama also said he hoped the Senate, which confirmed Carter three times for various positions under Democratic control, would accept his nomination with “similar speed and dispatch” once Republicans assume control.

Carter would replace Hagel, who announced his resignation last month amid reports he was struggling to break into the president’s inner circle and had disagreed with the president’s team over  strategy on Iraq, Syria, and efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Carter’s surgery was not the only health news to break out of the White House on Friday. The president himself was asked about a throat issue that necessitated a trip to a nearby hospital for a CT scan last weekend.

“I’m doing fine,” Obama said, adding that were it not for the pack of reporters that followed him everywhere he went, “nobody would know about it.”