Judge rejects Trump restrictions on Pentagon reporters

John Harney, Bloomberg News on Mar 20, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s decision to curtail the activities of reporters at the Pentagon, which led to the departure of most news organizations from the building, was blocked on Friday by a federal judge in Washington.

The court ruled in favor of a lawsuit brought by The New York Times, which accused the administration of free speech violations.

Last fall, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that news organizations agree to new limits on their reporting. The Pentagon policy put journalists in danger of being labeled “a security risk” that could’ve led to credentials being pulled if they were found soliciting material that could be considered classified or Controlled Unclassified Information, a ubiquitous label on Defense Department documents.

“We disagree with the decision and are pursuing an immediate appeal,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a post on X.

Bloomberg News, five major television networks as well as the AP, the Times and other news organizations had said they would refuse to sign the policy, and their reporters left on Oct. 15. Journalists had been working in the building, across the Potomac River from Washington in Arlington, Virginia, since the years after World War II.

Hegseth, himself a former Fox News commentator, had already declared large parts of the Pentagon off-limits to reporters unless they had an escort.

The Defense secretary had characterized the restrictions as “common-sense stuff,” and said the Pentagon was asking that reporters don’t try “to get soldiers to break the law by giving them classified information.”

President Donald Trump praised Hegseth’s policy. He suggested that he could move reporters who cover the White House out of the building but had chosen against doing so.

“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,” Charlie Stadtlander, a Times representative, said in a statement. “Today’s ruling reaffirms the right of The Times and other independent media to continue to ask questions on the public’s behalf.”

The Pentagon Press Association said in a statement that “We look forward to returning to the Pentagon and providing the public, including the members of the military currently involved in conflicts around the world, information about why and how the Defense Department is waging war.”

(Tony Capaccio contributed to this report.)