An aerial view of the Pentagon outside Washington. (John Wright/U.S. Air Force)
A federal judge has blocked the Pentagon from enforcing a policy requiring credentialed journalists to be escorted inside its headquarters, ruling that the restriction likely violates the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday barring enforcement of the escort policy while a lawsuit filed by The New York Times moves forward. It marks the latest development in an ongoing legal fight over Pentagon press access.
“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 in his opinion.
Friedman found that the policy was likely adopted in retaliation for the Times’ successful challenge to the Pentagon’s earlier press credentialing rules. The Defense Department had not justified the escort requirement on national security grounds, he concluded.
Members of the Pentagon press corps gather for a photo after turning in their press credentials outside the Pentagon, Oct. 15, 2025. A federal judge has since ordered the Pentagon to temporarily lift its requirement that credentialed journalists be escorted inside the building, ruling the policy likely violates the First Amendment. (Kevin Wolf/AP)
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Tuesday on X that the ruling would make it easier for sensitive and classified information to reach U.S. adversaries. The department will appeal the decision, he added.
“Unescorted access to the Pentagon allowed journalists to observe activity patterns and develop relationships that contributed to repeated unauthorized disclosures of operational plans and intelligence,” Parnell said. “The court’s order effectively restores that risky environment at a time when protecting our military’s secrets is more critical than ever.”
The legal dispute in the District of Columbia federal court began late last year when the Times challenged Pentagon rules governing media credentials and access to the building.
In March, Friedman ruled that portions of the policy violated the First and Fifth amendments, and in April he found that revisions still failed to comply with his earlier order.
A federal appeals court later allowed the escort requirement to remain in effect while that case proceeded.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth takes questions from reporters during a press briefing at the Pentagon on April 8, 2026. A federal judge ordered the Pentagon to temporarily lift its escort requirement for credentialed journalists, ruling that the policy likely violates the First Amendment. (Eric Brann/U.S. Navy)
The Times later filed a separate lawsuit challenging the policy itself, arguing that requiring journalists to be accompanied by government escorts throughout much of the Pentagon interfered with newsgathering and confidential conversations with sources.
“The plaintiffs have marshaled compelling evidence connecting the imposition of the escort requirement to their protected speech,” Friedman wrote in his opinion Tuesday.
He concluded it by underscoring the importance of press freedom.
“That principle has preserved the nation’s security for almost 250 years,” he said. “As our country celebrates its 250th anniversary this week, that principle must not be abandoned now.”
