In late June, the US Department of Defense (DoD) quietly submitted legislation to Congress to withhold additional unclassified records from the public. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and a coalition of over 40 organizations are urging Congress to reject this plan, which would grant the Defense Secretary sweeping authority to retain information and undermine public oversight of the military institution with the world’s largest budget.
The proposal submitted by the DoD to Congress as part of its budget legislative package would create a new exemption to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), allowing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to personally decide when to withhold records designated as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), creating a new category of military information, whenever he claims that their release could expose national defense vulnerabilities and that the perceived harm outweighs the public interest.
In a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the coalition argues that the proposal is unnecessary because current laws and processes already protect genuinely sensitive national security information while preserving the public's right to scrutinize government actions. The group warns that if Congress adopts the proposal, it would significantly weaken public oversight of military decision-making while setting a troubling precedent for government transparency more broadly.
"The Pentagon already has extensive authority to protect genuine national security secrets. What it is asking Congress for now is something entirely different: the power to hide unclassified information from the public. At a time when the Department of Defense controls nearly one trillion dollars in taxpayer funding and makes decisions that can shape war and peace, the public deserves more transparency, not more secrecy. Congress should exercise its authority to reject this request and look instead for ways to encourage the Pentagon to be more forthcoming with the American public."
Clayton Weimers
Executive Director, RSF North America
The Freedom of Information Act, enacted in 1966, establishes a presumption that government records should be public unless they fall under one of nine narrowly defined exemptions. Congress reinforced that principle through the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, requiring agencies to demonstrate that there is a foreseeable harm before withholding records. The Pentagon's proposal would erode those protections by creating an entirely new category of records shielded from public scrutiny due to national security excuses.
The proposal comes amid a broader pattern of restrictions on press access under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Over the past year, the DoD has required journalists to be escorted through areas they had long accessed independently, imposed new reporting restrictions, and defended those measures in ongoing litigation brought by The New York Times.
Read the full letter here.