Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, by imposing a new policy dictating what reporters can and cannot publish, is effectively asking Americans to just trust him. But trusting government is neither what the Founders envisioned nor what they encouraged. If anything, they built our system of government on the assumption that leaders should never be trusted without limits – there’s no reason to start now.
On Friday, the Pentagon introduced sweeping new restrictions on journalists. Reporters must now sign a pledge not to gather or publish “unauthorized” information – including some material that isn’t classified – or risk losing their credentials. Officials defend the move as necessary to protect national security and military personnel. Critics, however, warn it is something far more troubling: an unprecedented assault on press freedom and a dangerous form of prior restraint.
This policy comes on the heels of other efforts to wall off the press: eliminating newsrooms at the Pentagon, requiring escorts for reporters, and confining journalists to strictly designated areas. Each step narrows the public’s ability to scrutinize military leaders. Each step weakens a constitutional safeguard meant to protect the people, not the government.
The Founders warned against such blind confidence. James Madison explained in Federalist 51: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Madison understood that human beings – especially those in power – are flawed and self-interested. The Constitution was not built on trust, but on checks and limits. Thomas Jefferson was just as clear in Notes on the State of Virginia: “…It is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind those whom we are obliged to trust with power…”
And one of the strongest of those checks is the First Amendment. A free press ensures citizens are not forced to rely solely on the government’s word. Again and again, history demonstrates its value.
During Watergate, the Nixon administration insisted the press was wrong, even tried to intimidate The Washington Post. Without First Amendment protections, the paper might have buckled under pressure, and the cover-up could have succeeded. Instead, persistent reporting exposed the truth, leading to a president’s resignation.
The Iran-Contra scandal, too, shows why government cannot be left to police itself. The Reagan Administration’s covert arms sales and funding of Nicaraguan rebels were deliberately hidden from Congress and the public. It was only through relentless media coverage that Attorney General Edwin Meese confirmed key facts, and that Americans witnessed Lt. Col. Oliver North testify under oath. Without a free press, the scheme might have remained buried.
And then there are the Pentagon Papers. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg leaked a 7,000-page Defense Department study proving multiple administrations had deceived Congress and the public about the Vietnam War. The Nixon administration tried to block publication, claiming national security was at risk. The Supreme Court, siding with The New York Times and The Washington Post, said no – prior restraint was unconstitutional. Americans deserved to know the truth.
Would anyone argue the country would be stronger had these stories been suppressed? That we would be better off had the public remained in the dark? Of course not.
This is why the Founders insisted on a free and watchful press. It is not the job of journalists to serve as extensions of the Pentagon’s public relations office. Their duty is to question, to investigate, and to inform the people. To remove that safeguard is to demand a trust the Constitution never sought, and the people should never grant.
Secretary Hegseth himself remarked: “The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do.” He is absolutely right. But the people have never demanded less accountability from leaders. They have never said they want fewer questions asked, fewer facts uncovered, or fewer truths told. What the people want – and what the Constitution guarantees – is oversight, transparency, and accountability. A free press is an instrument through which they get it.
Ending that accountability is nothing more than asking the American people to trust government officials without verification. History and principle alike tell us the answer to that request should be an unequivocal “No.”