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The US on Sunday issued orders barring military officials from discussing strikes on drug boats with Congress without approval. According to a report by CNN, the Office of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has disseminated a broad list of topics that Defense Department personnel are now required to seek prior approval on before engaging with Congress, which includes any and all “sensitive military operations” and US military strikes on suspected drug boats around Latin America. This comes after an initial memo issued by Hegseth that barred all Defense Department personnel, including military commanders, from talking to Congress or lawmakers unless prior approval is sought from the agency’s office of legislative affairs. The list of topics included are DoW [Department of War] sensitive military operations, DoW Maritime activities in the SOUTHCOM [Southern Command] AoR [area of responsibility] (to include enhanced counternarcotics operations), Golden Dome/Homeland Missile Defense, Critical Munitions, and National Defense Strategy. Other topics include budget and reconciliation spending plans; critical minerals; Foreign Military Sales reform; AUKUS, a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; anomalous health incidents also known as “Havana Syndrome”; and Spectrum, which refers to the electromagnetic spectrum that underpins military operations and other key US government functions. Slamming the move, Republican Rep. Don Bacon said on Saturday that the policy was “another amateur move” by the secretary. In a post on X, he said: ““I was a five-time commander & our leadership WANTED us to engage members of Congress.” “We wanted to share what our great airmen were doing. We were proud of our service. The new rules have put a large barrier between the military & Congress. Pentagon says the change is very small. But I already see the impact with military members being afraid to communicate. This is another amateur move,” he added. The announcement of the policy comes after the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, on Friday publicly released two letters they’d written to Hegseth over the last month seeking clarity on the operations, both of which have gone unanswered, CNN reported.
