House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) hammered Republicans over the Trump administration’s new policy limiting Pentagon outreach to members of Congress.
Speaking to reporters in the Capitol, Jeffries first went after Pete Hegseth, the Defense secretary who installed the new restrictions, portraying him as unqualified. He then shifted his criticisms to Republicans on Capitol Hill, saying they’ve been too willing to accept President Trump’s policies even when they erode congressional powers.
“Donald Trump knows that House and Senate Republicans, they function like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump cartel. That’s how they act,” Jeffries said. “They just rubber-stamp Trump’s extreme policies and they move on. Don’t say anything about it.”
“Boss says jump, they just say, ‘How high?’”
In an Oct. 15 memo, Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg laid out the new policy, which requires Pentagon personnel to coordinate any interactions with Congress through the department’s central office of legislative affairs. The change is designed “to ensure consistency and support for the Department’s priorities to re-establish deterrence, rebuild our military, and revive the warrior ethos,” they wrote.
“Unauthorized engagements with Congress by [Defense Department] personnel acting in their official capacity, no matter how well-intentioned, may undermine Department-wide priorities critical to achieving our legislative objectives,” Hegseth and Feinberg added.
The development was first reported on Tuesday by Breaking Defense.
The policy marks a significant change in how Pentagon officials interact with members of Congress and their staffs. Those engagements have traditionally been managed by the individual branches of the military, not a centralized office. The shift is part of a larger effort by Hegseth to consolidate power within the Pentagon and curtail what information travels outside of it.
Earlier in the month, the Pentagon required reporters to sign an agreement prohibiting them from seeking information the department does not want made public. Those who declined — including every major news outlet in Washington — had their Pentagon press credentials revoked.
Throughout the controversies, Republicans on Capitol Hill have stood behind the administration, praising Trump as a historic figure who moves fast to get things done.
Democrats have a decidedly different view, accusing Trump of trampling on long-standing norms — and, at times, breaking laws — while Republicans sit silently.
“That’s how Republicans have [been] behaving all year,” Jeffries said. “Our thing is that, no, we are a separate and coequal branch of government.”
