The U.S. Department of Defense, also known as the Pentagon, has tightened access for journalists, redesignating its press offices as a “classified facility” and banning media personnel from the space.
The move marks another step in a series of restrictions that are changing how journalists operate inside the Pentagon, which has historically given them broad access to officials and workplaces while covering defense and national security matters.
Pentagon press office announces classified space
Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the change, saying the decision stemmed from an operational imperative rather than an attempt to restrict media activity.
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Valdez wrote on
He further explained the rationale behind the re-designation, saying: “These speechwriters typically work with confidential material… Therefore, journalists will no longer be allowed into the office space. There is nothing controversial about that.”
The decision comes amid ongoing friction between the media and the second Trump administration over media access and reporting conditions, The Washington Post reported.
Long-running dispute over media access
The latest restrictions follow a series of changes that are reshaping how journalists work inside the Pentagon.
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For years, accredited Pentagon reporters have been able to move widely around the building while performing reporting duties and engaging with defense officials, the Associated Press reported.
That arrangement changed significantly last October, when most news organizations gave up their passes and left the Pentagon rather than accept new restrictions imposed by the government.
The disagreement has increasingly entered the legal realm, with news organizations challenging several of the government’s access policies in court.
On May 18, the New York Times filed its second lawsuit in five months against the Department of Defense, claiming that the Pentagon’s requirement that reporters have escorts violated the Constitution’s protection of the press.
The newspaper said the escort requirement violated the First Amendment and amounted to “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.”
The latest legal challenge follows a lawsuit filed in December against rules proposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The new case seeks to challenge a temporary policy “that the Pentagon hastily implemented after a federal judge ruled in favor of The New York Times in an initial lawsuit,” the newspaper said.
Among the measures included in the interim policy is a requirement that reporters be accompanied by an escort at all times inside the Pentagon.
The battle continues
The escort policy was introduced in March after U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman struck down a series of earlier restrictions.
However, the legal dispute did not end there. In April, Friedman ruled that the interim policy violated his March order. Despite that finding, the escort requirement remains in place after an appeals court temporarily put aside part of the judge’s ruling while the government appeals.
The appeals process is ongoing and the broader battle over media access in one of the U.S. government’s most closely watched agencies has yet to be resolved.
