WASHINGTON

US Republican senators of the Senate Armed Services Committee criticized the Pentagon on Tuesday for what they described as poor communication and limited access to key defense policy officials.

Addressing a confirmation hearing for Pentagon nominees, Sen. Roger Wicker, the committee’s ranking member, expressed frustration with what he called an “unsettling trend” within the agency’s policy office.

"Members and staff of this committee have struggled to receive information from the policy office and have not been able to consult in a meaningful way with the shop either on the national defense strategy or the global posture review," Wicker said.

"This does not match our experience with the first Trump administration, during which we had extensive consultations between the administration, the Congress, and allies throughout the strategy development process," he added.

Wicker said he looks forward to "improved interactions" with the policy team in the coming months.

Sen. Dan Sullivan also pressed the nominees on the issue, saying the Pentagon’s policy office has been less responsive than other parts of the Trump administration.

"With the Trump administration — the senior leadership, the president, the Secretary of Defense, the chief of staff ... when you reach out to them, boom, they’re responsive," Sullivan said at the hearing.

"You know, the hardest kind of get a hold of in the Trump administration is the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy," he added, referring to Elbridge A. Colby.

Sullivan complained that he could not even get a response from Colby, claiming he is "the worst" in the administration to reach.