May 24, 2025
Pentagon cuts press access requiring 72-hour pre-clearance
Press access cut 60% as Pentagon bars roaming in biggest restriction
🛡️National Security📰Media Literacy
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s May 24 memo bars “roaming” in the Pentagon and shrinks press-pool seats by 60 percent, citing security; reporters call it the biggest access cut since 9/11.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo on May 24, 2025, requiring reporters to submit access requests at least 72 hours in advance to enter the Pentagon (Question 1; NPR: “Pentagon Imposes 72-Hour Notice for Reporters”).
The May 24, 2025 memo reduces permanent press-pool seating by 60%, cutting 20 of 33 seats, as detailed in the White House Correspondents’ Association’s May 25, 2025 protest letter (Question 4; WHCA Letter: “Protest of Pentagon Seat Cuts”).
The memo prohibits personal Wi-Fi hotspots and Bluetooth devices in Pentagon briefing rooms (Question 3; Associated Press: “Pentagon Device Ban Details”).
🛡️National Security📰Media Literacy
People, bills, and sources
Pete Hegseth (Defense Secretary)
Issued the May 24, 2025 memo slashing on-site press access requirements.
What You Can Do
1
Submit press access requests via the Pentagon Press Office at least 72 hours before your intended entry, per Secretary Hegseth’s May 24, 2025 memo.
2
Petition for group accreditation through the White House Correspondents’ Association at https://whca.press/about to challenge the 72-hour pre-clearance rule.
3
File a FOIA request for the memo’s drafting records using the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press’s model request at https://www.rcfp.org/press-pentagon-foia-escort-rules.