A Pentagon official acknowledged that the department had not consulted with senators about two of the major policy decisions being evaluated, which has caused frustration from the lawmakers.

Alexander Velez-Green, who is currently a senior adviser to the undersecretary of war for policy and is up for the nomination to be deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, said during his confirmation hearing that the department has not consulted with Congress over the national defense strategy or the global force posture review.