Overview
- The Office of the Secretary of Defense distributed guidance requiring prior coordination before Defense Department personnel engage Congress on numerous subjects, according to CNN reporting.
- The list explicitly cites "Department of War" sensitive military operations and maritime activity in the SOUTHCOM area, including enhanced counternarcotics operations and strikes on suspected drug boats.
- The move follows an earlier memo routing all contacts with Congress or state lawmakers through the Office of Legislative Affairs.
- Committee leaders Sen. Roger Wicker and Sen. Jack Reed released letters stating their inquiries about operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have gone unanswered.
- Democratic lawmakers left a briefing after Defense Department lawyers were absent to address legal justifications, and Rep. Don Bacon criticized the policy for chilling communication.