The Pentagon offered clarification Monday on how a prominent MAGA activist who previously received journalist credentials began working for the department.
Jennica Pounds, who operates the influential pro-Trump DataRepublican account on X, now serves at President Donald Trump’s Department of Defense as a special government employee, according to Pounds and the department.
“Ms. [Jennica] Pounds serves at the Department of Defense as a Special Government Employee and is no longer a credentialed journalist at the Pentagon,” the department said, according to CBS News national security coordinating producer Jim LaPorta.
The Pentagon said her press credentials expired in June 2026, which Pounds herself confirmed in her own social media post.
"I began working as a Special Government Employee for the Department of War (sic) in July, to serve the country in a more hands-on way," she wrote Monday. "My press credentials at the Pentagon expired in June, and I did not seek a renewal of those credentials. I currently am not a member of the Pentagon Press Corps and no longer attend briefings or events as a journalist."
A special government employee is generally a temporary federal worker, adviser, or consultant appointed to perform duties for the executive or legislative branch.
The department’s clarification follows questions about how Pounds went from presenting herself as a credentialed Pentagon journalist to working inside the department she had been covering. Neither the Pentagon nor Pounds specified what specific duties she performs.
I began working as a Special Government Employee for the Department of War in July, to serve the country in a more hands-on way.
My press credentials at the Pentagon expired in June and I did not seek a renewal of those credentials.
I currently am not a member of the Pentagon… https://t.co/3IvGVWrqSF
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) August 24, 2026