Judge blocks Pentagon's restrictive press access policy
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The New York Times. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A federal judge on Friday ruled the Pentagon's restrictions on journalists were a First Amendment violation, making a win for The New York Times, which brought a lawsuit against the Defense Department over the issue last December.
Why it matters: The judge granted The Times an injunction that blocks The Pentagon from imposing a policy that drastically reduced the number of journalists from major newspapers, wire services and TV stations from participating in press briefings.
- The policy said reporters needed to sign a pledge committing to its rules to maintain their press credentials.
- The vast majority of mainstream news organizations, including conservative-leaning outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax, refused to sign the pledge.
Zoom in: In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman argues the Pentagon's press policy is unreasonable and therefore violates the First Amendment.
- He also says The Pentagon's argument that its new press policy didn't restrict journalists in any way was wrong, and is also in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
What they're saying: "The New York Times welcomes today's ruling, which enforces the constitutionally protected rights for the free press in this country," said Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the paper.
- "Americans deserve visibility into how their government is being run, and the actions the military is taking in their name and with their tax dollars. Today's ruling reaffirms the right of The Times and other independent media to continue to ask questions on the public's behalf."
The big picture: This is the second major press-related lawsuit that the Trump administration has lost this month.
- Earlier this week, a federal judge said the Trump administration must let more than 1,000 laid off journalists at Voice of America return to work.
- The same judge a few weeks ago ruled that efforts to delegate control of the U.S. Agency for Global Media to Trump ally Kari Lake were unlawful, voiding Lake's actions as the acting head of the agency over the past year.
Zoom out: President Trump has faced setbacks in his own media-related litigation.
- In 2023, a judge dismissed his $475 million defamation suit against CNN over "big lie" coverage.
- That same year, a judge tossed Trump's lawsuit against the New York Times over a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into his finances.
- Trump's recent defamation suit against the Times was dismissed for being unnecessarily long. He has since refiled.
