The Pentagon has demanded that journalists pledge not to use any unauthorized material, including unclassified information, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cracks down on the media amid fury over leaks from his department.
If any journalists do not obey the department’s new rules, they risk having their credentials revoked, Hegseth said in a post on X Friday.
“The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do,” Hegseth said. “The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home.”
A 17-page document was circulated to media organizations Friday, outlining the latest rules to restrict the press.
The Defense Department, recently rebranded the Department of War under the Trump administration, said that information “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
It added that “only authorized persons who have received favorable determinations of eligibility for access, signed approved non-disclosure agreements, and have a need-to-know may be granted access” to classified information.
The move was condemned by the National Press Club, which said the restrictions were a threat to the independent reporting provided by Pentagon journalists for generations.
“That work has only been possible because reporters could seek out facts without needing government permission,” the organization’s president, Mike Balsamo, said in a statement.
“If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see,” Balsamo added. “That should alarm every American.”
Hegseth also removed several news organizations from their dedicated Pentagon offices in February, including the New York Times, NBC News and NPR, to make way for right-wing outlets including Newsmax, OAN and Breitbart.
Hegseth, who has suffered a string of major leaks under his watch at the Pentagon, has taken extreme action to clamp down on insiders speaking to the press.
After the Signalgate scandal in March, Hegseth’s team began administering polygraph tests in April to those in his inner circle, U.S. officials, and others with knowledge of the matter, The Washington Post reported at the time.
The alleged spate of polygraphs came during a tumultuous period where Hegseth fired three senior Pentagon appointees – Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick – who he accused of leaking classified and sensitive information to the media.
The men deny any accusations of wrongdoing.
Hegseth’s department was engulfed by the Signalgate scandal in March after former national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a chat group with some of the administration’s most senior officials. Hegseth shared minute-by-minute updates in the chat group about a U.S. strike in Yemen.
Waltz was ousted from the post following the embarrassment, and was confirmed Friday as Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by the Senate, while Hegseth clung on to his position.
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