Pentagon bars journalists from its press office, saying it has become a ‘classified space’
In another move restricting media access at the Pentagon, the Defense Department has declared its press office a classified space that journalists may no longer enter.
Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the change on X, saying there was “nothing controversial” about it because speechwriters who use classified material now occupy the space.
“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 move, first reported by The Washington Post, comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. media and the second Trump administration, both publicly and in court.
For years, Pentagon reporters held credentials allowing broad access inside the building. Last October, however, most news outlets surrendered their access badges and left rather than accept government-imposed restrictions on their work.
On May 18, The New York Times sued the Defense Department for the second time in five months, arguing that a requirement for journalists to be escorted on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.”
The Times said it filed the new lawsuit after first suing in December over rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Following a March ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman striking down earlier restrictions, the Pentagon adopted an interim policy requiring journalists to be escorted at all times. Friedman later ruled that policy violated his March order, but it remains in effect while the government’s appeal continues.
