The defense secretary was admitted at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain after a minor procedure the week before, officials said.
The president’s chief of staff sent a memo to cabinet secretaries reminding them to keep the White House informed when they may not be able to perform their duties.
A dozen miles from the Capitol, the first-term Democrat from Pennsylvania is keeping up with his work while being treated for severe clinical depression.
A spokesman for the first-term senator from Pennsylvania, who suffered a near-fatal stroke last year, said his depression had grown severe in recent weeks, as he has worked to adjust to life in the Senate.