While several Medal of Honor recipients heroically threw themselves on top of grenades to keep their comrades safe, very few survived. Army Sgt. John Philip Baca is one of those few. Baca didn't think twice about trying to save his fellow soldiers in
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday doubled the number of news organizations it is evicting from their workspaces at the Pentagon in order to rotate in more friendly outlets.
CNN, The Washington Post, the Hill and War Zone will be asked to leave their spaces, with Newsmax, the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller and the Free Press moving in, according to a memo from John Ullyot, acting assistant to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The decision, which the Pentagon Press Association called “unreasonable,” continues a pattern of hostility toward journalists by the administration, which this week said it was looking to cancel media subscriptions[1] paid for by agencies of the federal government.
“By turning over the office space loaned to you by the secretary, you will ensure that other outlets will enjoy the same opportunity to cover our nation's finest up close from office spaces inside the walls of the Pentagon this year and each year going forward,” Ullyot wrote.
It's common for news outlets to occupy space in places like the White House and state Capitols for quicker access to officials they need to do their jobs, and get stories out quickly. The Pentagon isn't preventing the ousted outlets from covering them, just making it more difficult for them to do their jobs.
CNN, in a statement, said that its “mission to report on the Department of Defense, U.S. military and Trump administration will continue regardless of office arrangements. We will not be deflected from our duty to hold all three fairly and fully to account.”
Similarly, The Washington Post said it would continue to cover the Pentagon independently and fairly, regardless of desk space.
The Pentagon announced its new rotation policy a week ago, saying that NBC News, the New York Times, NPR and Politico would be required to vacate. Their spaces are to be taken by One America News Network, the New York Post, Breitbart News and Huffpost.
The Times, Washington Post, CNN and Politico are each organizations that President Donald Trump has been critical of. Each of the outlets rotated in this week have been more supportive in their coverage.
None of the outlets offered prime real estate by the administration has requested more space from the Pentagon Press Association, which generally works to get room for reporters. Some are already in the Pentagon, the association said.
The association said in a statement Friday that it was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the decision.
“Instead of reconsidering its approach after good faith outreach this week from more than 20 news organizations, the Defense Department appears to be doubling down on an unreasonable policy toward news outlets that have covered the U.S. military for decades,” the association said.
The association said it does not believe there are space constraints at the Pentagon, and its offer to find room for everyone “was discarded.”
Many news outlets with Pentagon workspaces have invested heavily in them, to get reliable Internet access or, in the case of television networks, wiring that enables them to instantly deliver live reports during urgent news stories.
Ullyot rejected press arguments, saying most outlets covering the Pentagon have no office space, and some television outlets have no trouble carrying in their equipment each day.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is looking to live in military family housing and requested to use $137,000 in taxpayer funding for repairs -- including nearly $50,000 for an "emergency" paint job -- a pair of top Democratic lawmakers said in a letter Friday demanding more details.
While it is not unprecedented for a defense secretary to live in military housing, it is far more common for them to find private housing. And the reported price tag to fix up Hegseth's military house comes as rank-and-file service members continue to struggle with crumbling, unsafe living conditions and as the Trump administration has been looking to slash government spending elsewhere[1].
"We know that many service members and their families currently live in unacceptable housing conditions including houses with mold, lead paint, and other hazards," Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said in their letter to Hegseth about his housing. "What commitment will you make to provide service members with a similarly high quality of housing for themselves and their families?"
DeLauro is the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Wasserman Schultz is the ranking member of the panel's subcommittee in charge of military construction funding.
Under the law, Congress must be notified if maintenance and repairs for housing meant for general and flag officers is going to cost more than $35,000.
In that context, lawmakers were notified late last month that the Army[3] was looking to spend $137,297 on maintenance on an unoccupied family housing unit, according to Wasserman Schultz and DeLauro's letter. The total cost included $49,900 for an "emergency" paint job, the letter added.
On Wednesday, almost a week after the initial notification, the lawmakers found out Hegseth will be moving into the house that's being repaired, the letter said.
The Pentagon did not respond to Military.com's requests for comment Friday on the claims in the letter.
The apparent urgency to fix up Hegseth's housing comes as service members have struggled for years with subpar housing and an inability to get timely repairs.
Young enlisted troops in the barracks, too, have faced unsafe living conditions. A 2023 Government Accountability Office report found rampant problems[6] with overflowing sewage, mold, bed bug infestations and squatters.
At least one defense secretary has lived in military housing before. Bob Gates lived in a home on a Navy[7] compound in Washington, D.C., when he was defense secretary, Stars and Stripes reported in 2008[8]. Gates was the first defense secretary to live in military housing, according to the news outlet.
Most defense secretaries find their own homes. For example, Hegseth's immediate predecessor, Lloyd Austin, lived in a nearly $3 million, 8,700-square-foot house in Great Falls, Virginia, according to Task and Purpose[9].
When Gates lived in military housing, he paid more than $6,500 in monthly rent. At the time, defense officials expressed concern that he was required to pay more than three times as much as an officer would to live in the same house, because officers only had to pay the amount of their basic allowance for housing[10], according to Stars and Stripes.
The Pentagon did not answer Military.com's question about whether Hegseth will pay rent and how much.
In response to the concerns in 2008, Congress passed a law in that year's annual defense policy bill saying rent for a defense secretary living in military housing must be 105% of the monthly BAH[11] rate for a four-star general living with dependents in the same area.
"The Department of Defense requested this provision in the belief that housing the secretary of defense in established quarters on a secure military installation is far more cost-effective than installing, maintaining and protecting sensitive Department of Defense equipment, along with secure information facilities and security and detection systems, in private residences," a Senate report about that year's bill said.
The report also said DoD believed that it would reduce disruptions to the public and costs for security protection.
Under the law, the rent is supposed to cover "maintenance, protection, alteration, repair, improvement or restoration."
In their letter to Hegseth[12], Wasserman Schultz and DeLauro also asked about what rent he will pay and whether any other defense secretaries lived in military housing that needed funding to be repaired first.
The pair also asked why exactly there needs to be an emergency paint job, as well as for a list of available officers' housing that doesn't require as costly maintenance as the house Hegseth is choosing.
They requested a response by Feb. 21.
The first Trump administration had several scandals involving Cabinet officials and their housing or furnishings.
Scott Pruitt, who served as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency at the beginning of the first Trump administration, was forced to resign amid several scandals, including allegations that he got a sweetheart deal to rent a D.C. condo[13] from an energy lobbyist.
Mike Pompeo reportedly lived in Army housing when he was secretary of state. According to Politico, he first tried to live[14] in Navy housing, but lawyers for that service called the idea "problematic" and raised "factual, legal, fiscal and ethical" concerns.
And Ben Carson, who served as housing and urban development secretary, faced allegations that he misused funds for fancy office furniture, though he was cleared of wrongdoing[15].
When the Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, Feb. 9, 2025, keep an eye out for Cole Christiansen, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and Army officer-in-waiting.
After graduating from West Point in 2020, the
While several Medal of Honor recipients heroically threw themselves on top of grenades to keep their comrades safe, very few survived. Army Sgt. John Philip Baca is one of those few. Baca didn't think twice about trying to save his fellow soldiers in
When the Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, Feb. 9, 2025, keep an eye out for Cole Christiansen, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and Army officer-in-waiting.
After graduating from West Point in 2020, the