Hegseth cuts off military communication with Congress

[EricDMMiller]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/politics/hegseth-limit-congress-communication

The Pentagon is barring nearly all Defense Department personnel, including military commanders, from talking to Congress or state lawmakers unless they have received prior approval from the agency’s office of legislative affairs, according to a memo signed this month by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and obtained by CNN.

“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,” says the memo.

The directive applies to the civilian leaders of each military branch, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all combatant commanders and Defense Intelligence offices. The memo, dated October 15, does carve out an exception for the Pentagon Inspector General office, the agency’s internal watch dog.

With the firing of most of the senior JAG lawyers in February, and assigning over 600 of them to busywork acting as "immigration judges", it seems that the rule of law in the US military is breaking down.

There are mandated reporting deadlines set in law for disclosures to Congress. This restriction will almost certainly mean that those deadlines are missed. Law-breaking begets more law-breaking.

Making US military servicemen and leadership complicit in war crimes such as the ongoing murders off the coast of Venezuela means that they have a stake in never allowing the current administration to leave power, because they could face consequences such as execution if someone else were in power.

18 U.S. Code § 2441 - War crimes
(a)Offense.—
Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.

Hegseth should have already been impeached.

I have to say to the entire US Congress:

 

[EricDMMiller]

Trump: "We Don't Need A Declaration Of War" On Drug Cartels, "We're Just Gonna Kill Them, They'll Be, Like, Dead"

RCP's Phil Wegmann asked President Trump during a White house event Thursday whether he would consider asking for a declaration of war against drug cartels the U.S. Navy is currently blowing up in the Caribbean. PHIL WEGMANN, REALCLEARPOLITICS: A moment ago you said that if Secretary Hegseth...

www.realclearpolitics.com

PHIL WEGMANN, REALCLEARPOLITICS: If you are declaring war against these cartels and Congress is likely to approve of that process, why not just ask for a declaration of war?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I don't think we will necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we are just gonna kill people who are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're gonna kill them. They're gonna be, like, dead.

The President of the United States of America.

For anyone paying attention:

February 24: The administration purges the top, independent legal officers (JAGs) for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Congress protests this "betrayal of public trust" and warns it removes "guardrails" ensuring military operations comply with the law.

August 25: The President signs an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Defense to create specialized, trained National Guard units (a "quick reaction force") available for "rapid mobilization" to "quell civil disturbances" nationwide.

Late August: The U.S. Navy begins a major buildup of warships and troops in the Caribbean, near Venezuela.

September 2: The U.S. military conducts its first lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, killing 11 people.

September 30: At a mandatory assembly of nearly 800 generals and admirals, Secretary Hegseth demands they adopt his "warrior ethos" and reject "politically correct" leadership, telling any officer who disagrees to "do the honorable thing and resign." President Trump threatens their "rank" and "future" if they do not support him and authorizes the use of U.S. cities as military "training grounds."

October 2: The administration notifies Congress that it considers the U.S. to be in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, a justification issued after the lethal strikes had already begun.

October 15: Secretary Hegseth issues a memo banning all Pentagon personnel, including the Joint Chiefs, from communicating with Congress without prior approval from his political appointees.

October 17: The commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Admiral Alvin Holsey—the man directly overseeing the Caribbean strikes—announces his early retirement after reportedly raising concerns about the legality of the operations.

October 23: When asked directly why he does not seek a congressional declaration of war for this "armed conflict," President Trump states: "We don't need a declaration of war... We're just gonna kill them."