U.S. President Donald Trump speaks next to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Despite his own involvement in leaking classified information in text messages, The Washington Post has exclusively discovered that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth plans to crack down on leaks by imposing "strict nondisclosure agreements and random polygraph testing" on top officials.

In March 2025 in what became known as Signalgate, Hegseth shared specific information regarding a planned U.S. military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen, including the timing of air strikes and the targets. Since then, he has escalated a "war on leakers and internal dissent."

Hegeseth has also tried to curate what media covers the Pentagon by "kicking many news organizations out" and requiring reporters covering the military to sign an agreement promising to only solicit information pre-approved by the Pentagon.

Among the Pentagon's new rules: "All military service members, civilian employees and contract workers within the office of the defense secretary and the Joint Staff, estimated to be more than 5,000 personnel, would be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement that 'prohibits the release of non-public information without approval or through a defined process,'" according to a draft memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg.

There will also be random polygraph tests, the Post reports, given to "everyone from four-star generals to administrative assistants."

These latest efforts, the Post reports, "are part of a wider strategy by the Trump administration and the Pentagon to ferret out officials deemed insufficiently loyal or who provide information to reporters."

Mark Zaid, a lawyer who has represented multiple whistleblowers and government officials targeted by the Trump administration, agrees that it's a loyalty test and for Trump to exert even more authority.

“This seems to be far more directed at ensuring loyalty to DOD [the Department of Defense] and the Trump administration leadership rather than countering any foreign espionage," Zaid said.

"There are reasons why individuals were not required to take polygraphs before. And I would question why now the polygraph, and an overbroad NDA is being required other than to intimidate the workforce and ensure tighter control.”

The Pentagon started using polygraphs in July until the White House ordered them to stop after Patrick Weaver, a senior adviser to Hegseth "raised alarm to senior officials there about being targeted," reports the Post.

And while random polygraphs are given every few years as a standard in the intelligence community, this, says an anonymous insider, is different.

"The real concern is not about foreign intelligence. It’s about tamping down people who they think are leaking to the press. ... These are pucker factor, scare tactics. The overriding theme here is to try and cause as much fear in the workplace as possible," the insider told The Post.