Inside Hegseth’s Effort to Limit Press Access at the Pentagon

As the Senate weighed whether to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, NBC News dug up information about his past, including an affidavit from his former sister-in-law accusing him of abusive behavior toward his second wife. Courtney Kube, a Pentagon correspondent for the network, assisted with the coverage.

The reporting did not upend the confirmation of Mr. Hegseth, a Fox News host before his nomination. But it did leave an impression on him.

Shortly after taking office, Mr. Hegseth told his team to bar Ms. Kube from the Pentagon, according to three people with knowledge of his order. The team did not follow through, because Pentagon lawyers said the Defense Department could not single out one news outlet for removal, two of the people said.

Mr. Hegseth’s request did, however, foreshadow his adversarial approach to the press while in the job — both toward specific reporters and toward the industry more broadly.