Judge says Pentagon must restore press access
A federal judge blocked a restrictive new Defense Dept. press policy instituted after previously he ruled Pentagon press restrictions issued last year were unlawful.
Updated on: April 9, 2026 / 11:42 PM EDT / CBS News
A federal judge ruled the Defense Department violated a court order requiring it to ease stringent restrictions imposed on reporters who cover the Pentagon and blocked a new press policy issued by the department last month.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman again sided with the New York Times and its reporter Julian Barnes, who filed a lawsuit last year that argued the new Pentagon policy violated the First Amendment, Fifth Amendment and due process provision of the Constitution.
Last month, Friedman struck down some of the Pentagon's strict controls on how journalists with Pentagon press passes are allowed to report — ending a policy that has caused many news outlets, including CBS News, to leave the Pentagon.
Friedman ruled that the Pentagon failed to comply with his March order and said a revised press policy, which the Pentagon instituted after his order, was also unlawful.
The new Pentagon rules expelled all reporters from the building unless they were accompanied by government escorts and removed media outlets' office spaces from the building.