Updated May 26, 2025 at 12:27 AM EDT
The U.S. Defense Department is implementing new restrictions on journalists covering the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the changes in a memo Friday. The new policies vastly limit access for credentialed media while inside the Pentagon complex in Arlington, Va.
The restrictions ban reporters and other media from many areas of the Pentagon unless they're accompanied by an approved government escort. The restricted areas include the offices of Hegseth, his top aides, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Members of the press covering the U.S. military have historically had access to these newly restricted areas through past Republican and Democratic presidential administrations.
Hegseth, a former FOX News host, said in the memo that the Pentagon is adopting the new media policies to protect national security:
"While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally obligated to protect [classified national intelligence information] and sensitive information — the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. Service members in danger."
The Pentagon Press Association, an organization independent from the U.S. government that represents journalists who cover the military, expressed deep concern in a statement shared with NPR.
"There is no way to sugarcoat it," PPA's board of directors said in the statement. "Today's memo by Secretary Hegseth appears to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America's right to know what its military is doing."
The National Press Club is urging the Pentagon to swiftly reverse course. The organization's President Mike Balsamo said in a statement Friday, "Restricting access doesn't protect national security. It undermines public trust."
The restrictions are the latest step by the White House to limit access for journalists and to tightly control the news reporting of journalists covering the Trump administration. In January, the Defense Department vacated several major news outlets from their dedicated workspaces at the Pentagon, including NPR. The following month, the White House revoked the White House Correspondents' Association's ability to decide how media outlets share coverage of President Trump at major events where space is limited.
Hegseth has faced criticism after twice sharing sensitive military plans on his private phone through the Signal messaging app. Then-National Security Advisor Michael Waltz mistakenly included a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Magazine, in one of the text chains.
Hegseth's memo on the new restrictions says journalists will be required to complete a form "explaining their responsibilities" and receive a new credential and badge with "clearer" press identifiers in the coming weeks. The notice says credentials will be issued under "enhanced scrutiny."
Hegseth ended the memo by saying he expects that additional security measures will be forthcoming.
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