Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is now a Pentagon political appointee. The appointment has drawn concern because his reported role is linked to counterterrorism and irregular warfare work.
Posts tagged as “The Defense Department”
The Defense Department has barred journalists from entering the Pentagon press office after redesignating it as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. Press freedom groups criticized the move as part of broader restrictions on media access to the U.S. military.
A federal appeals court rules the Trump administration's transgender military ban likely violates the Constitution, allowing current transgender troops to remain while permitting enlistment restrictions to continue.
Navy Secretary John Phelan departs immediately amid tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over shipbuilding and naval strategy. His exit follows a series of high-level military dismissals under the Trump administration.
The U.S. military killed two men in a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, marking at least 170 deaths since last September amid ongoing controversy over the legality of such operations.
Courtney Williams, a former Army employee, was arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to a journalist who published details about misconduct in Delta Force. The charges stem from communications between 2022 and 2025 involving classified materials disclosed in a book and article.
A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from designating AI company Anthropic as a "supply chain risk" and banning federal use of its technology, ruling the government's actions likely unlawful and arbitrary. The dispute arose after Anthropic restricted military use of its AI for surveillance and autonomous weapons, leading to the Pentagon’s prohibition and a presidential order to cease using its services. The injunction restores the status quo pending appeal, allowing agencies to choose AI providers freely while Anthropic continues legal challenges against what it calls retaliatory government actions.
The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has led to significant military casualties, economic costs exceeding $11.3 billion in the first six days, and disruptions to global oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz. Democratic Senator John Fetterman supports the U.S.-Israel military campaign, citing Iran’s limited ability to inflict damage and emphasizing the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions despite intelligence reports indicating no active nuclear weapon development. Meanwhile, the war’s human toll includes thousands of deaths across the involved nations, and President Trump has expressed uncertainty about the conflict’s duration as the U.S. seeks additional funding to sustain military operations.