The Pentagon Press corps is balking at following the new rules of conduct Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued in September; see Pentagon Limits Reporters' Ability to Leak Classified Information, and They Are Not Happy – RedState.
At issue is detailed guidance issued by the Pentagon that requires reporters to wear badges, to be escorted when outside certain areas of the Pentagon, and to refrain from encouraging military members and civilian employees to leak classified information.
Pentagon access is a privilege, not a right. So, here is press credentialing FOR DUMMIES:
- Press no longer roams free
- Press must wear visible badge
- Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts
DONE. Pentagon now has same rules as every U.S military installation
Hegseth signalled his displeasure with the Pentagon's information security early in his tenure. Back in May, after a series of personally damaging leaks, he began tightening the rules; SecDef Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Put Press Corps on a Short Leash After Epidemic of Leaks – RedState. The effort was successful as Operation Midnight Hammer, the destruction of Iran's nuclear weapons labs, was carried off in complete surprise.
To most of us, these seem perfectly reasonable restrictions, given the deliberately destructive stories that have come from Pentagon leakers who are obviously meeting with reporters inside the Pentagon so they don't leave any electronic tracks behind. But, to the coddled and spoiled Pentagon Press Corps, this was just a bridge too far.
The deadline for signing the policy is the close of business on Tuesday, but all media, save One American News Network, have declared their refusal to do so.
The policy “constrains how journalists can report on the U.S. military, which is funded by nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars annually,” said the New York Times’s Washington bureau chief, Richard Stevenson. “The public has a right to know how the government and military are operating.”
The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Reuters and the Guardian, along with the trade publications Task & Purpose and Breaking Defense, said they were not signing either. Fox News, Hegseth’s former employer, has not yet said whether it would sign the pledge.
The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to a Signal group chat including Hegseth earlier this year, said the constraints on journalists violate their First Amendment rights. As a result, the magazine’s staffers won’t sign.
The media policy is the latest attempt by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to clamp down on journalists covering the Pentagon. The Defense Department’s media staff rarely conducts briefings, kicked out many mainstream news organizations from their dedicated desks, and restricted movement within the Pentagon facilities.
Multiple news organizations and the Pentagon Press Association have mumbled that they will sue over the policy. I think it is highly unlikely that the Supreme Court will rule that getting classified information while wandering around the Pentagon without an escort, and perhaps while concealing your press pass, is protected by the First Amendment, but, again, the lawsuit would not be for the purpose of winning. The purpose would be to find a tame, housebroken federal judge who can gum up the works and protect the status quo for months or years; see Federal Judges Blame Trump and SCOTUS for a Problem They Created; We Need to Fix It Now – RedState.
Anyway, at 5 p.m. Eastern today, all Pentagon access goes away. When The New York Times published its refusal on "X" yesterday, Pete Hegseth gave them an answer that indicates how much negotiating sway they hold.
A waving hand emoji. Bye.
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