Overview

• The Defense Department’s May 23 memo bars reporters from key Pentagon areas without official escorts, reshaping press access rules.
• Cuccia criticized the policies in a 3,000-word Substack post, calling them a “troubling shift” from decades of open reporting.
• She was asked to surrender her Pentagon badge on May 29 and officially dismissed by One America News on May 30, with no reason provided.
• OAN leadership has declined to comment on whether Defense Department officials influenced the firing or lodged complaints about her criticism.
• Her ouster highlights growing friction between the Pentagon press corps and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as ideological rifts within conservative media.