No one is happy about the Pentagon's new press policy.

Earlier this week, media outlets spanning the political spectrum almost universally declined to sign on to a memorandum issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that would require defense reporters to promise they will not seek to obtained unauthorized information.

"Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified," the memorandum states.

Hegseth is, of course, within his rights to forbid his own employees from leaking stories to journalists, to the extent that's possible. Federal officials who leak classified documents can be prosecuted under existing law, although it is often in the public's interest for them to do so anyway. But if anything is to be done, government policy should place constraints on government employees — not on journalists, or the public. Obviously reporters are going to try to induce Pentagon officials to provide information, even if it's not "approved for public release" by Hegseth's personal PR department.

This is so obvious that it's effectively nonpartisan, which is why conservative news outlets Fox News, Newsmax, The Daily Caller, Real Clear Politics and The Washington Examiner have joined liberal........

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