Rights organizations are calling on Congress to block a Pentagon proposal that would expand the Defense Secretary's authority over unclassified data.. Submitted in late June, the rule change aims to create new exemptions for "controlled unclassified information" (CUI) based on national security concerns.
The Defense Secretary's proposed control over CUI
The Pentagon's late June proposal seeks to grant the Secretary of Defense the power to withhold certain "controlled unclassified information" (CUI) from public disclosure. According to the report, this category of data is not officially classified but is considered sensitive enough to require restricted distribution. Under the proposed rule,the Secretary could unilaterally decide if releasing such information poses a national security risk.
This shift would move away from the current Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) framework, where the government can only deny requests if they meet specific, pre-existing legal exemptions. The proposed change would impact acccess to a wide array of documents, including reports on military investigations, internal rules of engagement, and critical audit or oversight records.
Slowing FOIA responses and the 17% fulfillment rate
The push for more secrecy comes as the Department of Defense struggles with existing transparency metrics. Data cited in the report indicates that the Pentagon's response time for complex FOIA requests grew by more than 30% in 2025 compared to 2024. Furthermore, the agency granted only 17% of FOIA requests in their entirety.
These figures suggest a growing bottleneck in how the public accesses military records. the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has warned that such a rule change could be "disastrous," particularly given the Department of Defense's central role in many significant news stories. The Freedom of the Press Foundation has also argued that the Pentagon is already too secretive, suggesting the new rule would act as a "rubber stamp" to hide unclassified records.
Protecting a trillion-dollar budget from public scrutiny?
The controversy is heightened by the massive scale of the Department of Defense's operations, which manages nearly one trillion dollars in taxpayer funding. rights groups, including Reporters Without Borders North America, argue that the Pentagon already possesses sufficient authority to protect genuine national security secrets without implementing these new restrictions.
Advocates are concerned that the proposed rule could be used to shield the department from political embarrassment or to hide internal oversight records. as the department makes decisions that can shape global war and peace, groups like the Freedom of the Press Foundation are calling for more accountability to the public, service members, and their families.
Who decides what constitutes a "national security risk"?
While the proposal outlines a new power structure, several critical details remain unaddressed in the current reporting. It is still unclear how the Department of Defense intends to prevent the "politicization" of the CUI designation, a primary concern raised by rights groups. Additionally , the report does not include a formal rebuttal or specific justification from the Pentagon regarding why the existing authorities are insufficient. There is also no clarity on how the Secretary's decision-making process would be audited to ensure it is not being used to avoid public embarrassment.
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