The Pentagon has barred journalists from entering its press office after redesignating it as a classified space, the latest move by the Trump administration to restrict press access to the Department of Defense.
Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Jose Valdez confirmed the change on social media, stating that the office had been reclassified as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the space. "Journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space," Valdez said.
The restriction follows a series of measures since September, when the military required journalists to pledge not to gather any unauthorized information, including unclassified documents, or risk losing their press passes. In October, the department announced a "next generation" press corps featuring 60 journalists from far-right outlets, prompting The New York Times to sue. A federal judge ruled in the Times' favor in March.
In response, the Pentagon issued an interim policy barring journalists from visiting without an official escort. A district judge ruled that policy violated his order, but an appeals court stayed part of the ruling. The Times filed a second lawsuit in May, arguing the policy was an unconstitutional attempt to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.
