Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday (October 16, 2025) rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation's leadership called the new rules "common sense" to help regulate a "very disruptive" press.
News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Mr. Hegseth for release.
Trump administration puts new limits on reporters at Pentagon
Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defence Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.
"It is sad, but I am also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together," said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007. She took a map of West Asia out to her car.
