Ranking Member Courtney Statement on the Pentagon’s New Limitations on Communication with Congress

NORWICH, CT – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, released the following statement on the new Department of Defense policy requiring all Department of Defense personnel except Inspector Generals to coordinate with a centralized legislative affairs office before engaging with Congress on a bloated list of topics, including acquisition reform and AUKUS. 

“This new policy is another move by the Department of Defense leadership to restrict transparency. Requiring essentially all DoD personnel to coordinate all interactions before speaking to Congressional offices or committees is counterproductive and impractical. It is Congress’ duty in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution to enact appropriations for the Pentagon and in Article 1, Section 8 to ‘provide and maintain a Navy.’ Fulfilling that duty with professional staff and legislators requires frequent, expedient communication with DoD. Without that communication, funding shortfalls and missed authorization can happen, to the detriment of the warfighter and our national security,” Courtney said.

“Looking back at history, the success of the U.S. nuclear submarine program is a direct result of unrestricted communication between mid-level naval officials and Congress. Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the originator of the nuclear submarine program, met directly with Senators and Members of Congress without permission from Navy brass to establish the nuclear propulsion technology for the U.S. submarine fleet. Over the objections of his superiors, he presented his iconoclastic ideas to key Congressional committees that overruled Pentagon leadership and funded his plan. Without Rickover’s direct communication to Congress, the U.S. would not wield the generational advantage we have in the undersea domain today. This is just one of the many examples of where a free flow of communication with Congress benefitted our nation. Secretary Hegseth’s restriction of DoD experts and personnel to have these discussions with Members of Congress, committees, and staff will hamstring our historic collaboration and delay getting the men and women of our armed forces what they need,” Courtney continued.

###