Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced new rules for the press corps covering the Pentagon, which is responsible for safeguarding critical national security and intelligence information. Some media members are already expressing concerns, viewing the changes as an infringement on the First Amendment.
Hegseth has issued immediate directives, such as providing official escorts for journalists while they are at the Pentagon, in response to recent leaks that have attempted to disrupt President Trump’s agenda:
The new measures, effective immediately, restrict accredited reporters from accessing most areas of the Department of Defense headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, unless they have official approval and are accompanied by an escort.
He called the protection of classified national intelligence information and operational security “an unwavering imperative for the Department.”
As we’ve written here at RedState, leakers have been suspected in several agencies and areas in the federal government over the past few months, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the DoD, and the national intelligence community.
