‘Attack on freedom’: Congressman Suhas Subramanyam slams Pete Hegseth for Pentagon press curbs
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced new rules that limit the scope of reporting on Pentagon.
Indian-origin US Congressman Suhas Subramanyam slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the new White House rules that restrict reporting and leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Subramanyam termed the rules as attack on press freedom, First Amendment and democracy. “The American people deserve transparency through accurate and fair reporting. Rather than attacking the messengers of his failed policies, Secretary Hegseth should instead consider doing more to support servicemembers and their families and keep our country safe,” Subramanyam said in a statement.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump backed the defence secretary's new rules and said, "I think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace," Trump said. “The press is very dishonest.”
Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host, is known to have systematically choked off the flow of information and has held only two formal press briefings, banned reporters from accessing many parts of the Pentagon without an escort and launched investigations into leaks to the media.
He has called his new rules "common sense" and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them. Journalists see that as a distinction without a difference.
Miffed over Hegseth's restrictions on media, dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work.
"It's such a tiny thing, but I was really proud to see my picture up on the wall of Pentagon correspondents," wrote Heather Mongilio, a reporter for USNINews, which covers the Navy. "Today, I'll hand in my badge. The reporting will continue."
"What they are really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That is not journalism," Jack Keane, a retired US Army general and Fox News analyst, told AP.
The Pentagon Press Association voiced their opposition of the rules and several media organisations told their reporters to leave instead of signing the new rules.
