Staffers at the Department of War (DOW), including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, will now need to get prior approval before sharing any information with Congress.
In a memo dated Oct. 15 and seen by The Epoch Times, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg, directed Pentagon officials to coordinate all communications with Capitol Hill through the department’s office of legislative affairs.
“The Assistant Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs provides centralized direction, integration, and control of DoW legislative affairs and liaison activities with the U.S. Congress,” Hegseth and Feinberg wrote in the memo, which was first reported on by Breaking Defense.
“Unauthorized engagements with Congress by DoW personnel acting in their official capacity, no matter how well-intentioned, may undermine Department-wide priorities critical to achieving our legislative objectives.”
The policy applies to the most senior DOW officials—the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as commanders of combatant commands, the service secretaries, directors of departmental agencies, and congressional affairs officers. It does not apply to the offices of the department’s inspector general, general counsel, or comptroller, which maintain legally mandated communications with Congress.
According to the memo, servicemembers may still request assistance from their lawmakers, and department employees retain whistleblower protections and other legal rights to speak with Congress.
Hegseth and Feinberg also instructed the legislative affairs office to conduct a comprehensive review of the department’s congressional engagement processes. That review, which is due within 90 days, is expected to address “current issues, inefficiencies, or misalignments” and propose ways to “streamline activities” and “enhance compliance” in congressional relations, the memo states.
A follow-up memo, issued on Oct. 17, authorizes the legislative affairs office to take additional steps to support the review, including forming working groups, requesting documents, and meeting with relevant military personnel.
Pentagon component heads and principal staff assistants have been given 30 days to submit position descriptions and contact information for all staff who directly or indirectly provide information to Congress.
The DOW has confirmed the authenticity of the memos, calling the changes a “pragmatic step” aimed at improving the department’s communications with Congress.
“The Department intends to improve accuracy and responsiveness in communicating with the Congress to facilitate increased transparency,” DOW spokesperson Sean Parnell said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. “This review is for processes internal to the Department and does not change how or from whom Congress receives information.”
The move appears to be a part of the DOW’s broader effort to regulate what information it shares. In September, the department asked journalists to affirm that they will not gather information that the department has not explicitly authorized for release.
