Federal judge rules Pentagon policy restricting press access unconstitutional

The New York Times is trumpeting victory after a federal judge ruled against the Pentagon’s 2025 press access policy.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman of Washington, D.C., struck down a policy requiring journalists to agree to certain conditions to be granted access to the Pentagon; The Times argued that this violated First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.

“The record evidence supports the conclusion that the Policy discriminates based on editorial viewpoint (i.e., whether the individual or organization is willing to publish only stories that favor or are spoon-fed by Department leadership) and not on political viewpoint,” Friedman wrote.

Friedman continued: “The undisputed evidence reflects the true purpose and practical effect of the Policy: to weed out unpopular journalists who, in the Department’s view, are not ‘in the room and willing to serve’ and replace them with news organizations that are. This is viewpoint discrimination, full stop… The Policy thus violates the First Amendment.”

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The judge also wrote that the policy violated the Fifth Amendment, writing: “The policy fails to provide fair notice of what routine, lawful journalistic practices will result in the denial, suspension, or revocation of a PFAC.”

“The Policy ostensibly makes any news gathering and reporting not approved by the Department a potential basis for denial, suspension, or revocation of a journalist’s PFAC. It offers journalists no way to know how they can do their job without losing their credentials. The Policy is therefore vague in violation of the Fifth Amendment,” Friedman ruled.

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The New York Times was pleased with the judge’s decision.

“The New York Times welcomes today’s decision that enforces the constitutionally protected rights of a free press in this country,” Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander told Fox News Digital.

Stadtlander added: “Americans deserve visibility into how their government is run and the actions the military takes on their behalf and with their tax dollars. Today’s decision reaffirms the right of The Times and other independent media to continue asking questions on behalf of the public.”

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to the decision, writing on his former Twitter account, X: “We disagree with the decision and are filing an immediate appeal.”

The New York Times building in New York, NY (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

That policy gives the Pentagon “standardless discretion” to punish journalists without due process by revoking their press badges based on the policy’s “incurably vague language” about how they conduct newsgathering, the Times’ lawsuit said.

The Times also alleged viewpoint discrimination, pointing to several reporters and broadcasters who were outspoken supporters of the President and who were invited to Tuesday’s news conference after signing the Pentagon’s pledge. Donald Trump.

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Many news organizations opposed the policy when it was first implemented in October 2025.

“[W]We join nearly every other news organization in refusing to accept the Pentagon’s new requirements that would restrict the ability of journalists to inform the country and the world on important national security issues. This policy is unprecedented and threatens fundamental journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military, as each of our organizations have done for decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press,” ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News Media and NBC News previously said in a joint statement.

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The Pentagon last fall implemented a policy requiring journalists to comply with its terms or be barred from entering the building. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images))