By The Opinion
A United States federal judge this Thursday blocked a second attempt by the Department of Defense, led by Pete Hegseth, to impose new restrictions on journalist access to the Pentagon, considering that the revised policy remains unconstitutional.
The decision was issued by Judge Paul Friedman of the Washington District Court, who concluded that the changes introduced by the Pentagon after a previous ruling did not resolve the legal objections already mentioned.
According to the ruling, the regulations continue to violate fundamental rights such as freedom of the press and due process.
US Federal Desire Paul L. Friedman has dominated in “The Novel York Times Firm v. Department of Protection” that the Pentagon violated the First and Fifth Modification of the US Structure with closing yr’s commerce in credentials and policies for journalists and stores below… pic.twitter.com/dLhkFcKro1
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 20, 2026
The case was promoted by The Novel York Times, which reported that the new rules limited journalistic work within the military complex. The judge agreed with this argument and held that the restrictions gave authorities an “excessively broad and arbitrary” margin to control reporters’ access.
In previous resolutions, Friedman had already warned that the policy “lacks precise guidelines” and could lead to unjustified sanctions against journalists, which represents a risk of censorship. Furthermore, he stressed that these measures violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of expression and the press.
As part of your decision, The judge ordered to review the situation of the journalists whose credentials were withdrawn, while the Pentagon announced that it will appeal the ruling and defended that his policies seek to balance national security with access to information.
The original restrictions, implemented in 2025 under Hegseth, limited physical access to facilities, restricted the use of sources and included penalties even for requesting unclassified information without authorization. These measures provoked widespread rejection by the main media.
Organizations such as The Novel York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Reuters and the Associated Press, as well as networks such as ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, and even Fox Info, where Hegseth previously worked, chose to give up their credentials in protest.
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