Hegseth limits Pentagon officials’ interactions with Congress

Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo requiring formal approval of nearly all Defense Department correspondence and interactions with Congress, according to the memo obtained by CBS News.

Most offices will need authorization to communicate with Congress, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Joint Chiefs of Staff, commanders of combatant commands, and secretaries of each military department, among others. There is an exception for the Office of the Inspector General, which is supposed to act independently. The digital publication Breaking Defense was the first to report the memo.

CBS News contacted the House and Senate committees that oversee the Pentagon.

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement to CBS News that “requiring that all Department of Defense communications with Congress be monitored by Secretary Hegseth’s office raises serious questions about the transparency and timely flow of information that lawmakers need to exercise oversight.”

Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was “deeply concerned that this memo signals the administration’s intent to further restrict communication with Congress and prevent this committee’s access to detailed and timely information.”

“They must immediately return to working with our committee in a collaborative, bipartisan manner for the sake of our national security, our national defense, our Constitutional Republic and to provide transparency to the American people,” Smith said.

The memo directs almost all communications, including requests for information from Congress, to go through the assistant secretary for legislative affairs.

“Unauthorized engagements with Congress by [Defense Department] personnel acting in the course of their official duties, no matter how well-intentioned, can undermine Department priorities critical to achieving our legislative goals,” said the memo, which was also signed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg. “Effective immediately,” the memo states that relevant offices “shall coordinate all activities related to legislative affairs” through the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.

This memo follows one from almost every major news organization, including CBS News, leave their work space at the Pentagon after refusing to comply with new press requirements that journalists’ associations say could infringe on their First Amendment rights. The Defense Ministry sent a note to journalists in September mandate they sign an agreement acknowledging that they would need formal authorization to release either classified information or what the department calls “controlled unclassified information.” The ministry said in the memo that “information must be approved before public release…even if it is not classified.” All organizations except a handful of far-right publications refused. Individuals and entities who agreed to the Pentagon’s requests included Jack Posobiec, TPUSA Frontlines and Gateway Pundit.