Pentagon bars journalists from its press office, saying it has become a
'classified space'
[June 02, 2026]
By JOCELYN NOVECK
NEW YORK
(AP) — In another of a series of moves restricting media access at the
Pentagon, the Defense Department has declared that its press office is
now a classified space inaccessible to journalists.
On X, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move,
saying there was “nothing controversial” about it and that it came
because speechwriters, who use classified material, were now occupying
the space. |
The Pentagon is viewed from the window of an airplane Aug. 27, 2023, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) |
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“The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive
Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the
Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” Valdez
wrote.
“These speechwriters routinely handle classified material … as a
result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the
office space. There’s nothing controversial about that.”
The latest move, first reported by The Washington Post, took
place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the U.S.
media and the second Trump administration, which has played out
both in the public arena and at times in the courts.
For many years, Pentagon reporters had credentials granting them
wide movement in the building as they sought to interact with
press officials there. But last October, most news outlets
turned in access badges and walked out of the Pentagon rather
than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work,
The New York Times sued the Defense Department on May 18 for the
second time in five months, arguing that a requirement that
journalists be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the
First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional attempt by the
Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.”
The paper said it had filed the additional lawsuit after first
suing the Pentagon in December over new rules imposed by Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth, to challenge an interim policy “that the
Pentagon hastily put into place after a federal judge ruled in
The Times’s favor in its original lawsuit.” The new policy
included the requirement that journalists be accompanied by
escorts at all times while in the Pentagon.
The policy was implemented in March following a ruling by U.S.
District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman that had struck down
earlier restrictions. The following month, the judge ruled that
the interim policy violated his March order. But the escort
policy remained in place when an appeals court stayed part of
Friedman’s ruling while the government appeals. The appeals
process is ongoing.
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