'This is so dumb': GOP lawmaker slams Pete Hegseth's latest plan as 'amateur hour'

News organizations are preparing for a legal battle after a government memo from the Pentagon called for reporters to sign a "pledge" — with one Republican lawmaker saying of the idea: "This is so dumb."

Multiple lawmakers, including Republicans, responded to the new policy — that would require journalists to promise to only report information authorized by the Defense Department as a condition of Pentagon access — over the weekend, CNN reports.

“This is so dumb that I have a hard time believing it is true," Don Bacon (R-NE) said.

“We don’t want a bunch of Pravda newspapers only touting the Government’s official position. A free press makes our country better. This sounds like more amateur hour," Bacon, who is leaving Congress in 2026, wrote on X.

The Trump administration said it will impose new restrictions on press coverage of the military and require news groups to agree that they will not share information if the government has not approved it for release, according to Reuters.

According to the memo, the department "remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust. However, DoW information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's press office has already removed some press organizations from reporting at the Pentagon. Some areas of the building are now off-limits and require an official escort for press.

A reporter at the White House Sunday asked Trump “Should the Pentagon be in charge of deciding what reporters can report on?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Trump said. “Listen, nothing stops reporters. You know that.”

It's expected that the move could push out and revoke press credentials.

Hegseth on Friday wrote on X that reporters could “wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home.”

A potential legal battle could be on the horizon, as several media organizations have already pushed back on the "pledge" and signaled a potential legal response.

“This policy operates as a prior restraint on publication, which is considered the most serious of First Amendment violations,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told CNN.

The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and NPR have already criticized the new rules.

“Asking independent journalists to submit to these kinds of restrictions is at stark odds with the constitutional protections of a free press in a democracy,” a spokesperson for The Times told CNN.