The Pentagon : Press Office Designated Classified Space

Sudanhorizon – Agencies
In another move in a series of actions restricting media access to the Pentagon, the Department of Defense announced that its press office is now a classified space inaccessible to journalists.
In X, Joel Valdez, acting press secretary for the Department of Defense, confirmed the move, saying there was “nothing controversial” about it and that it came about because speechwriters, who use classified materials, now occupy the space.
Valdez wrote that the Pentagon press office has been reclassified as a sensitive facility due to the sharing of this facility with speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.”
“These writers routinely handle classified materials… As a result, journalists will not be permitted to enter the office space. There is nothing controversial about that.”
This latest move, first reported by The Washington Post, comes amid escalating tensions between the American media and the second Trump administration, which have played out in the public sphere and, at times, in the courts.
For years, Pentagon reporters carried passes that granted them freedom of movement within the building as they sought to interact with media officials there. But last October, most news organizations surrendered their passes and left the Pentagon rather than accept government restrictions on their work.
The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense on May 18, the second such lawsuit in five months, arguing that requiring journalists to be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent coverage of military affairs.”
The newspaper said it filed the additional lawsuit after its initial December lawsuit against the Pentagon regarding new rules imposed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. This lawsuit challenges a temporary policy “hastily put in place by the Pentagon after a federal judge ruled in favor of the Times in its original lawsuit.” The new policy required journalists to be accompanied by security personnel at all times while on Pentagon grounds.
This policy was implemented in March following a ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman, who had overturned previous restrictions. The following month, the judge ruled that the temporary policy violated his March order.
However, the escort policy remained in effect after an appeals court kept part of Friedman’s ruling while the government considered the appeal is still ongoing.
— Jocelyn Novick is a national journalist with The Associated Press specializing in culture and gender, and a film critic.

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