On Friday, US District Judge Paul Friedman, a Clinton appointee, blocked the Pentagon from enforcing its new policy and said it violated the First Amendment.
“The Court recognizes that national security must be protected, the security of our troops must be protected, and war plans must be protected. But especially in light of the country’s recent incursion into Venezuela and its ongoing war with Iran, it is more important than ever that the public have access to information from a variety of perspectives about what its government is doing—so that the public can support government policies, if it wants to support them; protest, if it wants to protest; and decide based on full, complete, and open information who they are going to vote for in the next election,” the judge wrote in a 40-page opinion.
It seems like District judges can now decide what is more important than national security.
The New York Times celebrated.
Breaking News: The Pentagon’s restrictions on news outlets violated the First Amendment, a federal judge ruled, in a victory for The New York Times. https://t.co/t9nTUiHM7L
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 20, 2026
The Story
The Department of War announced on October 22, 2025, a revamped Pentagon press corps, adding over 60 journalists from conservative-leaning media after traditional media organizations, including The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post, surrendered credentials in protest against a new access policy. The policy, introduced in early October by Secretary Pete Hegseth, requires journalists to sign a pledge acknowledging revocable privileges and adherence to security rules.
Supporters praised the move for promoting unbiased reporting, critics argued it could enable government control over military coverage.
The rule was established to stop the leaks.
The rules traditional media wouldn’t sign on to have been in writing for some time, but no one followed them. Secretary Hegseth is just requiring them to follow the rules, and they wouldn’t do it.
At least that’s how it was presented.
And people wonder why Bondi is overworked when there are so many loony judges, not to mention a department full of saboteurs.