Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton Returns To Work, But Not For Long

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned to work Monday for the first time after an illness kept her from the job for days. But she won't stay in the office for long: She will leave the post, as she had previously announced, shortly after President Barack Obama's second inauguration on Jan. 20.

It will be a relatively light day for the famously workaholic Clinton. The Department of State’s press office confirmed she has no public events scheduled but will be meeting with assistant secretaries of state in the morning.

Later this week, Clinton will meet Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. She is also expected to welcome Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Washington at the end of the week.

Clinton was discharged from New York Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday. She was admitted on Dec. 30 after doctors found a blood clot in her head. That discovery came during a test related to a concussion after a fall she suffered the month before.

On Friday, Department of State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reports that Clinton was already “raring to go and eager to come back to work.” By that time, the secretary had already spoken to her foreign policy board.

Clinton will not be a part of President Barack Obama's second term, which begins on Jan. 20. She will, however, stay put until her successor is confirmed. Obama has nominated Sen. John Kerry to succeed her, but reports are that Kerry’s confirmation in the Senate could be delayed until Clinton testifies before Congress about the last September attack on a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. That assault claimed the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stephens.