MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Tom Bowman, NPR's Pentagon correspondent, is handing in his press pass. Now, that does not mean he will stop doing the job. The Pentagon, under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is asking reporters to sign a new policy, a policy stating that they won't obtain or solicit any information the Pentagon hasn't authorized. News outlets across the ideological spectrum are refusing to sign this restrictive new policy. And Tom is here now. Hey there.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: You have been covering the Pentagon a long time. I imagine you have been kicked out of worse places.
BOWMAN: I have, indeed.
KELLY: Have you ever seen anything like this?
BOWMAN: Never in 28 years of covering the Pentagon. Now, over the years, there have been some, of course, heated exchanges with officials, most notably, you remember Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who could be quite acerbic and push back against hard questions. But he never tried to restrict our access like this or curtail our efforts to get information. And, you know, other defense secretaries had a deep knowledge of the military or industry or Capitol Hill, and almost all of them thought it was important for the public to be informed of decisions, to come out frequently. You know, what was being done in the public's name with their money? And also, why are you sending their sons and daughters into harm's way?
But Secretary Hegseth doesn't have that basis of knowledge. And he's been hit hard with stories about dysfunction in his office, disarray, telling senior officers he could have them polygraphed. So you wonder if this is - these embarrassing stories - is this kind of the root of all this effort to curtail our reporting? And Mary Louise, Secretary Hegseth defended the policy today, saying, quote, "it's common sense stuff." And, quote, "we're trying to make sure national security is respected, and we're proud of the policy." Doesn't really explain it.
KELLY: Although, I keep turning over that phrase in my mind, that you can't solicit information as a member of the Pentagon press corps. Isn't that the whole point of being a reporter?
BOWMAN: Absolutely. And the policy says you cannot reach out to someone and ask for information, even unclassified information, and basically you wait until the Pentagon releases information. That turns us into stenographers and not reporters. That basically means we just parrot what the government tells us, much like you would see in countries - authoritarian ones, where the government places sharp controls on the press. But, of course, the founders didn't want that. Thomas Jefferson was no real fan of the press, but he realized it was important to democracy for a press to hold leaders accountable.
KELLY: And just lay out the stakes here. We said you are handing in your Pentagon press pass, but you are not going to stop covering the beat. So what are we actually losing?
BOWMAN: Well, you know, it'll hamper our ability to report, but it doesn't mean we're all just going to stop. Most reporters have developed good sources over the years. I did in Iraq and Afghanistan, both now on active duty and also retired. So some will still be talking with us, as well as sources in other government offices, even foreign embassies. I'm reaching out to them even more now because of this, you know, curtailing of our jobs. You know, Mary Louise, one Marine officer I spoke with told me a reporter was complaining about this new policy, and he basically said, listen, a Marine would forge ahead and find a way to still do the job. I just love that.
KELLY: That is our Pentagon correspondent - I'm proud to call him my colleague - Tom Bowman. Thank you, Tom.
BOWMAN: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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