The Trump administration has abruptly halted defense briefings for Joe Biden’s transition team, according to a report from Axios, in a move that is said to have shocked Pentagon officials. Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller reportedly sent out a Pentagon-wide directive Thursday night ordering officials not to cooperate with the president-elect’s camp and to cancel all scheduled meetings. The officials who shared the directive with Axios said Miller hadn’t explained his reasoning and it wasn’t clear whether President Trump had given his explicit approval for the decision.

Miller disputed Axios’ report in a statement, insisting that no interviews had been canceled or declined but some were being rescheduled to the new year due to a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause” starting tomorrow. In the meantime, the focus would be on requests for information on Operation Warp Speed and COVID-19, he said. However, transition team member Yohannes Abraham told PBS News there’d been no agreed pause. “In fact... there’s no time to spare,” he said.