Judge Strikes Down Key Parts of Pentagon Press Access Policy in Times Suit

A federal judge in Washington struck down parts of the Pentagon’s restrictions on journalists late Friday, siding with The New York Times and one of its reporters in a First Amendment case, according to CBS News and NPR. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered the Defense Department to reinstate press passes for Times reporter Julian E. Barnes and several colleagues and struck down key parts of the policy, CBS News reported.

The Pentagon unveiled the policy last fall. NPR reported that it required news organizations to pledge not to gather information unless Defense officials formally authorized its release, extending beyond classified material to unclassified reporting. CBS News said credentialed reporters had to accept a host of restrictions to keep daily access to the building. Many outlets, including CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, CNN and Fox News, declined to sign and stopped working from the Pentagon day to day, and NPR also turned in its passes. The in-house press corps is now made up mostly of conservative outlets that agreed to the rules, CBS News reported.

The Times and Barnes sued in December, CBS News and NPR reported, saying in the suit that the policy violated the First Amendment. Friedman found the policy likely violated the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment and due process protections, CBS News reported. The suit named the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief spokesman Sean Parnell, NPR reported. Friedman halted some of the provisions the outlets objected to most, CBS News reported, including language suggesting that reporters who “solicit” classified or sensitive information from service members could be deemed a security risk and barred. He also struck a section describing Pentagon access as a “privilege” rather than a “right,” and found the rules on soliciting information so vague that journalists would likely avoid asking questions. Some sections remain, including limits on where reporters may go in the building without an escort, and CBS News said the impact on other news outlets is not yet clear.

“Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation’s security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by governmental suppression of political speech,” Friedman wrote, according to NPR. “That principle has preserved the nation’s security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now.” CBS News reported that he also acknowledged “national security must be protected, the security of our troops must be protected, and war plans must be protected,” but said that given the recent incursion into Venezuela and the war with Iran, it is more important than ever for the public to have information from varied perspectives.

The Pentagon has argued that it is not forcing reporters to clear stories with the military and is instead trying to protect national security by preventing leaks of highly sensitive information, CBS News reported. Parnell said on social media, “We disagree with the decision and are pursuing an immediate appeal.”

A Times spokesperson, Charlie Stadtlander, said the ruling “reaffirms the right of The Times and other independent media to continue to ask questions on the public’s behalf,” per NPR. The Pentagon Press Association said it “celebrates the decision” and called for the “immediate reinstatement of the credentials of all PPA members,” according to CBS News.