Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News.
The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures.
“Changes and upgrades to the Pentagon Briefing Room are nothing new and routinely happen during changes in an administration,” a Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News.
Hegseth, before becoming defense secretary, was a morning show co-host on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Weekend.” Since his nomination, he has vowed to emphasize improvements in the armed forces’ warfighting abilities and military readiness.
An in-house construction crew renovated the adjacent green room earlier this year. The room previously had minimal furnishings — a table with chairs, a TV, photos of former defense secretaries and a mirror on the back of the door, one source said.
The table was removed and a new chair and large mirror with makeup lighting was installed, another source said.
The suggestion for improving the space came from Tami Radabaugh, the deputy assistant to the secretary for strategic engagement and a former producer for Fox News and for CBS News, according to multiple sources. The chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, and the defense secretary’s wife, Jennifer Hegseth, also a former Fox producer, expressed their approval for the upgrade before it was undertaken, one of the sources said.
The Defense Department spokesperson said the green room will be available to senior leaders and VIPs prior to press engagements.
The new items, including a director’s chair, came from existing inventories, the spokesperson said. A new countertop was constructed by facilities services staff.
“For this upgrade we were deliberately conservative and opted for several less expensive, on-hand materiel solutions,” the spokesperson said.
Hegseth hasn’t used the press room to brief reporters. But it has been a set for his TV appearances, including one with Fox this week in which he blamed the media and former Defense Department employees for the revelation that he sent sensitive details about military strikes in a Signal group chat that he created.
He did not deny news reports that he shared real-time operational information with family members before strikes in Yemen were carried out. He didn’t explain why his wife, who is not a Defense Department employee, was in the text chat. That was the second Signal group with whom Hegseth shared planning details about the Houthi airstrikes, which took place in mid-March. The first Signal chat, a principals group which comprised top national security officials, was created by national security adviser Michael Waltz, and its existence was exposed by Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to the group in error by Waltz.
Hegseth claims he did not disclose classified information in either of the chat groups. The Defense Department acting inspector general is reviewing his disclosures.
“We’re focused on recruiting, on rooting out DEI, on securing our southwest border, on the president’s agenda, and it’s going very well at the Pentagon, and I’m proud of it,” Hegseth said Tuesday on Fox.
The Pentagon restricted access to its briefing room on Feb. 21, barring reporters unless officials were speaking. Previously, press could use the room, one of the few places they could connect to wifi in the secure building, to file stories and to conduct on-camera reports.
