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Top Marine general hospitalized after medical emergency

  • The commandant of the Marine Corps was hospitalized
  • Service's No. 2 will assume duties while Gen. Eric Smith is out
  • Military service did not say when Smith could be released

Gen. Eric Smith is shown in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Dept. of Defense. President Joe Biden has nominated a highly decorated Marine officer who’s been involved in the transformation of the force to be the next commandant of the Marine Corps. Gen. Eric Smith is now the assistant commandant and his nomination had been widely expected. (U.S. Dept. of Defense via AP)

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(NewsNation) — The commandant of the Marine Corps was hospitalized this week after suffering a health emergency, the military service said.

Gen. Eric M. Smith was admitted to a Washington, D.C., hospital Sunday after “suffering a medical condition near the Home of the Commandants at Marine Barracks Washington,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Officials did not stay where Smith was being treated or when he could be released.

The Washington Post reported a D.C. police official linked the incident to a reported cardiac arrest of a man Sunday about a block from Smith’s residence.

Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl had been carrying out the duties of commandant while Smith remained hospitalized, Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney is expected to take over after the Senate on Thursday confirmed him as the service’s assistant commandant.

Mahoney’s confirmation came after senators circumvented Sen. Tommy Tuberville holds on military promotions. The Alabama Republican has been blocking more than 300 promotions for months over opposition to a Defense Department abortion policy that reimburses travel costs for women who have to go to another state for the procedure.

Smith, who is listed in stable condition and is recovering, was confirmed to the top job last month, but he had been holding down two high-level posts for several months because of Tuberville’s holds.

When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the vote this week on Mahoney’s nomination to be assistant commandant, he said Smith’s sudden medical emergency is “precisely the kind of avoidable emergency that Sen. Tuberville has provoked through his reckless holds.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Military

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