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119th Congress · Senate bill · Last action Aug 6, 2026
BillsArmed Forces and National SecurityS. 5288Congress.gov ↗
S. 5288In CommitteeArmed Forces and National Security

Protecting Pentagon Press Access Act

Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian (D-HI)14 cosponsorsIntroduced Aug 6, 2026
In plain English

S. 5288, sponsored by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), restores and protects press access to the Pentagon and Department of Defense facilities and operations. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that unrestricted media access to the military is essential for public oversight and transparency. The measure addresses barriers to Pentagon press access through provisions in Section 5, though the specific mechanisms are detailed in the full bill text. All 14 sponsors are Democrats, and the bill was referred to the Committee on Armed Services in August 2026.

What’s in the bill (4 sections)
  • Sec. 2. Purpose
  • Sec. 3. Findings
  • Sec. 4. Sense of congress
  • Sec. 5. Restoring pentagon press access
Generated by ThePolitibase from the bill text and CRS summary. Read the official text →

Where it is in the process

Introduced
Aug 6
Senate committee
Aug 6
3
Senate floor
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4
House
-
5
Signed
-
What happens next: Sits in committee. Needs a markup or favorable report to advance to the Senate floor.

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Sponsor

Cosponsors (14)

AS
JS
JS
CS
TS
TS
RS
+7
All Democratic.

Activity timeline

Aug 6
Aug 6
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Aug 6
Aug 6
Introduced in Senate
Read the bill text
Official text via Congress.gov. Opens in a new tab.
Read full text →

Full action log

All 2 recorded actions since introduction · Source: Congress.gov
Aug 6
SENATERead twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Aug 6
Introduced in Senate

All 14 cosponsors

14 Democrats · 0 Republicans
Democrats (14)

In the news

September 2025 US Tech Policy Roundup - Tech Policy Press
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