00:00Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth implemented a new policy at the Pentagon requiring all DOD personnel to get approval from the Legislative Affairs Office before they communicate with Congress.
00:13That includes the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is the highest-ranking military officer in the world.
00:19The Hegseth concealment policy has to end.
00:23You've got to trust your chain of command. This is too large of an organization to have that kind of a tight clamp on it, particularly when we have members that want specific answers, not going through protocol.
00:37Congress has direct oversight of the Department of Defense, and it sets its budget each year.
00:42In 2026, it's set to be as high as $1 trillion.
00:46So as you can imagine, this new policy is not making members of Congress happy.
00:50We have Senate-confirmed nominees that I dare say would be reluctant to confirm if our access to accurate information from the Department of Defense was inhibited in any way.
01:06I think Secretary Hegseth knows that.
01:08Cornyn is talking about placing a hold on military nominees.
01:12Many senior defense officials, both those in uniform and civilian, have to get approval from Congress before they can start their jobs.
01:20So the Senate can assert its authority here by saying, we won't approve any more open positions until you reverse this policy.
01:29I think more communication is better, so we can understand each other and we can conduct our proper oversight.
01:36Congress has a couple more ways to assert its authority.
01:42Number one, they can issue a subpoena for information.
01:45Number two, they have yet to approve the National Defense Authorization Act for 2026, so they can put a measure in there that rescinds this policy.
01:53We need to use every tool to enable effective oversight.
01:57That's our job, to make sure that that $1 trillion of taxpayer monies is effectively used to defend our nation.
02:06And we should be holding nominees and calling hearings and using every tool at our disposal to make sure that there is effective accountability.
02:17I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Hour News.
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