The U.S. Department of Defense is significantly altering its policy for interacting with Congress, according to a new five-page memorandum obtained by NBC News.

The memo, whose authenticity was confirmed by a Defense Department spokesperson, instructs all Pentagon employees—except those in the Office of the Inspector General—to obtain approval before communicating with lawmakers, their staff, or other elected officials on Capitol Hill.

Dated October 15 and signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg, the memorandum appears to require Pentagon officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to secure clearance from the department’s legislative affairs office before any interaction with Capitol Hill.

The memo states that, “effective immediately,” all legislative activities must be coordinated through the Legislative Affairs Office.

This represents a departure from current practice, where Defense Department agencies had greater autonomy in managing interactions with Capitol Hill.

Under Hegseth, the department has moved toward tighter control over communications from the Pentagon. Last week, dozens of journalists surrendered their press badges and left the building after most news organizations refused to sign Hegseth’s unprecedented restrictions, which threatened consequences for reporting unauthorized releases—even if unclassified.

The new directive, which further limits the flow of Pentagon information to Congress, is intended “to achieve our legislative objectives,” Hegseth and his deputy wrote in the memo.

“Unauthorized communications by Department of Defense personnel with Congress, even if well-intentioned, could disrupt the department’s priorities essential to achieving our legislative goals,” the memo states.

Senate Armed Services Committee senior Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island accused Hegseth and his team of “fearing the truth,” calling the memo “a symptom of paranoia emerging within the Department of Defense.”