On October 15, 2025, dozens of Pentagon reporters walked out after refusing to sign new media restrictions issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Reporters assigned to the Pentagon are now required to agree not to publish or pursue any information unless it has been formally cleared for release by the Department of Defense—even if that information is unclassified. Failure to comply could result in the loss of press credentials.
At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, approximately 50 reporters from major outlets, including ABC, CNN, Reuters, The Washington Post, CBS, and Fox News, turned in their Pentagon press badges and vacated their workspaces. This marked the first mass departure of the Pentagon press corps in modern history.
The walkout was in response to a new credentialing policy issued by Secretary Hegseth. The policy required reporters to:
- Pledge not to solicit any unauthorized information, even if unclassified.
- Submit all reporting for pre-approval by Pentagon officials before publication.
- Agree to potential criminal penalties for violations of the policy.
Journalists and media organizations widely condemned the policy as a violation of First Amendment protections and a threat to independent reporting. The Pentagon Press Association called it “a message of intimidation,” and nearly every major news outlet refused to sign the agreement.
Reporters who have covered the Pentagon for decades publicly announced their resignations from the press corps. ABC’s Martha Raddatz posted, “I turned in my Pentagon pass today after 30 years because ABC will not sign the new restrictive requirements.” NPR’s Tom Bowman wrote, “Did I as a reporter solicit information? Of course. It’s called journalism.”
Retired General Jack Keane criticized the policy on Fox News, calling it an attempt to “spoon-feed information” and restrict transparency.
The policy was introduced amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to limit media access and control narratives around national security. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and vocal administration ally, has held only two press briefings in the past year and has restricted access to senior officials.
With the press corps now operating from outside the Pentagon, reporters say they will continue covering defense issues but without the institutional access that has historically supported in-depth reporting.