Starting on Wednesday, all but one media outlet that regularly covers the Department of Defense is set to lose access to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that reporters agree by 5 p.m. Tuesday to a new policy, under which they would need to pledge to not obtain or use any unauthorized material, even if the information is unclassified — or hand over their press badges in the next 24 hours. Media outlets say this is a violation of their First Amendment rights, and nearly every news outlet has refused to sign.
The rejections mean that for the first time since the Eisenhower administration, no major U.S. television network or publication will have a permanent presence in the Pentagon.
Reporters and editors, who have urged defense officials to reconsider the policy, say they will continue to cover the U.S. military with or without access to the building. But the rules mark a new chapter in how journalists will cover the armed forces.
Here are the key takeaways:
All but one outlet refusing to sign
Every major television network, wire, publication and radio outlet has gone on the record in saying their reporters have refused to sign the policy, including ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Financial Times, Politico, and NPR, among others. The Hill and its sister network NewsNation also have declined to sign.
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, each of the major broadcast networks said it would not sign the policy.
“Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues,” the statement read. “The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections.”
Several right-leaning news organizations have balked at the policy, including Fox News, Washington Times and Newsmax, the latter of which has said it believes the requirements “are unnecessary and onerous.”
The lone outlet that has agreed to the rule as of Tuesday evening is One America News Network, a far-right news and political commentary television channel and website that has frequently given favorable coverage to the administration.
Provision on ‘security threat’ was sticking point
Under the new rules, journalists are technically not barred from investigating, reporting or publishing stories on the U.S. military using information deemed sensitive or unclassified, but they could be deemed a vague “security or safety risk” should they even ask Defense Department personnel for such information, according to the rules.
The policy stipulates that when journalists receive and publish unsolicited classified or sensitive information from government sources, they are “generally” protected in doing so by the First Amendment.
But “if you solicit the disclosure of such information or otherwise encourage [Defense Department] personnel to violate laws and policies concerning the disclosure of such information, such conduct may weigh in the consideration of whether you pose a security or safety risk.”
The Pentagon describes solicitation as including calls for tips encouraging military personnel to share nonpublic information, as many reporters do via their publications or personal social media platforms.
That was the main sticking point for reporters, the Pentagon Press Association said in a forceful statement last week. Hegseth and his department are trying to “stifle a free press” with the new policy, which it said “conveys an unprecedented message of intimidation to everyone within the DoD, warning against any unapproved interactions with the press and even suggesting it’s criminal to speak without express permission — which plainly, it is not.”
In an op-ed published Tuesday, NPR’s Pentagon reporter Tom Bowman said signing the document “would make us stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable.”
Press access was already severely limited
The new rules follow a steady stream of directives out of Hegseth’s office that have sought to severely curtail press access and accommodations in the Pentagon since the start of the year.
In late January his office removed four outlets from their Defense Department workspaces under a so-called rotation program, replacing them with media outlets including One America News Network and Breitbart News, whose journalists have given favorable coverage to the Trump administration.
When the Pentagon Press Association sought clarification from officials as to why the four outlets were specifically targeted, officials took away desks from four additional news outlets, including The Hill.
The journalists removed from their desks were still allowed to work in the building, though Hegseth’s office also made it difficult by restricting reporters from accessing the Pentagon’s press briefing room — one of the few places in the building with wireless internet to use for filing stories.
Then in May, Hegseth restricted journalists from most hallways of the Pentagon without an official escort, an extreme decision as reporters had enjoyed access throughout much of the building for decades without being monitored. Secure or restricted spaces have always been off-limits to the press without official permission.
Under the new rules, the Pentagon also plans to move all news organizations from their dedicated workspaces, moving the press corps to a still-unknown location in the building, likely making it harder for reporters to have access to military personnel.
Hegseth also has not briefed Pentagon reporters in nearly four months, and press secretary Kingsley Wilson has not conducted a briefing in two months, all while the U.S. military has conducted legally questionable military strikes in the Caribbean Sea, deployed troops to American cities and continues to operate across the globe.
Hegseth mocks media
Hegseth, who has frequently displayed animosity toward the press, on Monday mocked media outlets that said they would not sign the policy, posting emojis waving goodbye on social media in response to posts from The New York Times and The Atlantic, which both issued statements blasting the move.
He responded in the same manner to a statement from The Washington Post, which said the policy undercuts First Amendment protections “by placing unnecessary constraints on gathering and publishing information.”
The Pentagon chief on Tuesday insisted the press restrictions were “commonsense stuff” designed to protect classified information and prevent reporters from accessing certain areas of the Pentagon — despite rules that already limit access to unclassified areas and materials.
“The policy says maybe the policy should look like the White House or any other military installation,” Hegseth said at the White House, before accusing journalists of trying to get military personnel to “break the law” by leaking information to them.
Trump defends policy, making it unlikely to change
President Trump on Tuesday threw his support behind the Pentagon’s policy, calling the press “very dishonest” and insisting the rules were necessary as Hegseth “finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace and maybe security for our nation.”
Trump backed Hegseth, who was seated alongside him during a meeting with the president of Argentina at the White House, suggesting that he could also move the White House press corps out of the building should he so choose.
“You’re lucky I’m president, because we could move them very easily across the street,” he said, also claiming that the Pentagon restrictions came from valid national security concerns.
“I find that when it comes to war … it bothers me to have soldiers and even high-ranking generals walking around with you guys on their sleeve,” he said.
