The Pentagon says a “new press corps” of 60 journalists who had agreed to follow a new media policy will be welcomed into the building to cover the U.S. military

The Defense Department has announced a “new media” press corps largely comprised of conservative news outlets after restrictions introduced for journalists covering the agency led many to walk out rather than agree to the agency’s demands.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has restored but downgraded an independent, internal Pentagon think tank focused on future wars, seven months after dismantling the agency in the name of accountability and efficiency, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter.

A memo obtained by CBS News directs nearly all correspondence with Congress to go through the assistant secretary for legislative affairs.

Leaders at the Pentagon have significantly altered how military officials will speak with Congress after a pair of new memos issued last week

The Defense Department said that dozens of new reporters had agreed to sign the Pentagon’s rules on reporting, which have been rejected by many major news organizations.

A new memo on communications with Capitol Hill, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, follows restrictions on reporting out of the Pentagon.

When you imagine media in a dictatorship, you probably think of something dull and gray. Maybe a Soviet state-television program, extolling the annual harvest. Perhaps a smudgy newspaper photograph of Chairman Mao or General Pinochet, surrounded by blocks of turgid prose.