News media will no longer be allowed to roam the corridors of the Pentagon without official approval and without a department escort under strict new rules announced this week by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Plagued by a series of leaks, Secretary Hegseth issued the orders in a memorandum Friday, saying they were necessary to protect disclosures of sensitive military information. The memo stated:
While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally committed to protect CSNI [classified sensitive national intelligence] and sensitive information — the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. service members in danger.
The restrictions cover areas where the press has had access in past administrations in the massive building, including offices of the Defense Secretary and his top aids as well as press offices for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force. The memo even banned reporters from the building’s athletic center.
Hegseth’s order will also require members of the Pentagon press corps to sign a form acknowledging their responsibility to protect sensitive information, Fox News reported. Journalists will also be issued new badges that clearly identify them as members of the press.
The order drew immediate criticism from the Pentagon Press Association, a membership group that represents the press corps covering the U.S. military. It issued a statement:
The decision is purportedly based on concerns about operational security. But the Pentagon Press Corps has had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, without any concern about OP-SEC [operations security] from DoD leadership.
The National Press Club also weighed ink with a statement condemning the new rules, saying the order “curtails opportunities to engage with officials” and “raises serious concerns about transparency, oversight, and the public’s right to know.”
The new rules follow a string of leaks and the firing of at least three department officials. As Breitbart reported, two top advisors to Hegseth were escorted out last month and put on administrative leave. Pentagon Chief of Staff Joe Kasper ordered the investigation into Pentagon leaks. According to Breitbart News:
Kasper’s order came after the New York Times reported that Elon Musk was planning to visit the Pentagon to be briefed on “war plans” in the Tank — a secure conference room at the Pentagon where top defense and military leaders gather to discuss the department’s most pressing issues.
The Pentagon was also caught off guard in March when the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in a group chat on the Signal messaging app where Hegseth discussed plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen.
Former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, took responsibility for the mistake, lost the security job and was named ambassador to the United Nations.
Hegseth’s new rules are part of a series of changes that began with the new Trump administration.
In February, the Pentagon required legacy news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, NPR, CNN and NBC News, to vacate their office spaces in the building.
That move is part of a new rotation system to bring in other news operations the Trump administration considers more fair in their coverage, including the New York Post, Breitbart, the Daily Caller, and One America News Network.
