Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, still ailing from a broken elbow, has canceled plans to join President Obama on his upcoming trip to Russia, the State Department said today.

The trip is the second in as many weeks that the well-traveled Clinton has scrubbed since she slipped and broke her elbow while headed to a meeting at the White House on June 17. She underwent two hours of surgery on June 19, and since then kept up a sporadic public schedule, frequently working from home.

"She's in some pain," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters yesterday. "She had a very serious break in her elbow.... She's energetic, she's fully engaged, but we need to make sure that she heals and then can get back to a full schedule where she can come in every day."

Clinton, 61, appeared at the State Department on Monday, but was at home on Tuesday. Today, she presided at the swearing-in ceremony of Daniel Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers owner who Obama tapped as ambassador to Ireland. "I came off the injured reserve list," she quipped to laughter.




By Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, July 1, 2009