A U.S. district judge will hear oral arguments on Monday over allegations that the Pentagon has failed to comply with a court injunction aimed at protecting journalists' access to the Defense Department, bringing a high-profile dispute over press freedom and executive authority back to the courtroom.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman set the hearing for 9:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT) in Washington to consider a motion from the New York Times asking the court to compel Pentagon compliance with an earlier ruling. That prior decision, issued on March 20, found that certain provisions of the Defense Department's policy on press credentials violated constitutional safeguards for news gathering and due process, and it ordered immediate reinstatement of media credentials for reporters covering the Pentagon.
The challenged policy, announced last October under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said journalists could be deemed security risks and have their press badges revoked if they solicited unauthorized military personnel to disclose classified information and, in some instances, unclassified information. The Pentagon Press Association, whose 56 member outlets include the New York Times, ABC News, and Fox News, reported that only one outlet agreed to sign an acknowledgment of the policy. Reporters at other member organizations who declined to sign were required to surrender their press passes to the Pentagon.
After Friedman issued his March 20 ruling and injunction, reinstating press credentials, the Times told the judge last week that the Pentagon had not adhered to the order. Instead, the newspaper said, the department issued what it described as a new "interim" policy that the Times contends flouts Friedman’s ruling by placing new constraints on reporters' unescorted entry to the building, setting rules on when a reporter may promise anonymity to a source, and retaining other provisions the court had found objectionable.
In a court filing on Friday, the Pentagon rejected the claim that it had violated the judge's order. The department asserted that it "was careful to address all of the legal defects that the court perceived in the prior policy."
The Pentagon Press Association characterized the department's revised rules as "a clear violation of the letter and spirit" of the court's decision. The association includes major outlets and counts Reuters among its members.
Context and next steps
The hearing before Judge Friedman will determine whether the court should enforce its earlier injunction by ordering the Pentagon to change its approach or otherwise comply with the March 20 ruling. Both the Times' request and the Pentagon's response will be considered at the scheduled session.
Outcomes from the hearing could determine immediate practical arrangements for credentialed reporters covering the Pentagon and may affect how the department drafts and applies policies governing media access going forward.