Overview

• A draft memo by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg would require more than 5,000 personnel in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff to sign nondisclosure agreements barring release of non‑public information without prior approval.
• A companion draft sets up random polygraph testing for those offices with no stated limits on who could be selected, potentially covering everyone from four‑star generals to administrative assistants.
• Feinberg wrote that protecting sensitive information is vital to national security, while attorneys and former officials argue the plan targets contacts with reporters and would intimidate staff.
• The documents are unsigned and undated and remain under deliberation, and noncompliance could bring penalties that include action under the military justice system for service members.
• Earlier ad hoc polygraph use was halted by a White House order after a complaint from Hegseth adviser Patrick Weaver, and the Pentagon is simultaneously pressing reporters to sign new credential rules restricting unauthorized information gathering.