Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memo requiring formal approval for nearly all Department of Defense correspondence and interactions with Congress, according to the memo obtained by CBS News.

Most offices will require approval to communicate with Congress, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Joint Staff, the commanders of the combatant commands, and the secretaries of each military department, among others. There is a carve-out for the Office of the Inspector General, which is supposed to act independently. The digital publication Breaking Defense first reported on the memo.

CBS News has reached out to the House and Senate committees that oversee the Pentagon.

The memo directs nearly all communication including requests for information fro

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