WASHINGTON -- A federal judge in Washington will hear arguments Friday over the legality of Department of Defense rules that require credentialed journalists to only report information previously authorized by the government, or risk losing their Pentagon press badges.
Attorneys for The New York Times say the policy, instituted in mid-2025, "seeks to restrict journalists' ability to do what journalists have always done -- ask questions of government employees and gather information to report stories that take the public beyond official pronouncements."
The 21-page agreement prohibits the gathering or publication of any information that is not authorized by the government, including declassified information and off-the-record conversations, whether obtained on or off Pentagon grounds. Failure to sign up for the rules could result in a suspension of Pentagon access.
The new rules were strongly opposed by dozens of media outlets, and the five major broadcasters -- including NBC News -- did not sign the department's agreement. As a result, they lost their regular access to the Pentagon.
"The Policy was not promulgated in a vacuum," attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., who is representing The New York Times, wrote in a recent filing. "Pentagon leadership has faced a stream of what it perceives to be unfair and unfavorable press coverage and, in response, promulgated the Policy to jettison journalists and news organizations whose reporting the Department disfavors, and to chill future reporting critical of the Pentagon."
The Pentagon argues the press access policy is "reasonable," "because it is calculated to protect national security while still allowing press access."
"The Department could have decided not to allow any press access to the Pentagon: access to the Pentagon is a privilege, not a right," Department of Justice attorney Michael Bruns wrote. "But because the Department is committed to transparency, it allows certain members of the media to enter portions of the Pentagon, use portions of the Pentagon to work on content, and have access to Department personnel. At the same time, the Department must always ensure that national security information is protected."
"The goal of that process is to prevent those who pose a security risk from having broad access to American military headquarters."
This week members of the press whose credentials were revoked were allowed back into the Pentagon to attend press briefings held by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on the ongoing Iran war.
In a sworn declaration submitted as part of this lawsuit, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Pete Williams -- who, after holding that role from 1989 to 1993, served for nearly 30 years as anNBC News justice correspondent -- said the Pentagon's new press credential policy undermines the trust the American people have with their military.
"When I was at the Department, we did not decide who was eligible to obtain or maintain a press credential based on whether we thought a particular reporter or news organization would report favorably about the Department or its leadership," Williams wrote. "There were times when journalists published critical stories or reported information that Department officials believed had come out too soon or wished had not been made public. But Department leadership understood and respected the role of an independent press in our democracy, and cutting off access to the Pentagon for journalists could never stop reporting that was critical of the Department."
Last year, The Associated Press sued the Trump administration over a ban on AP access to certain White House events. A federal appeals court in Washington allowed the restrictions to remain in place while the appeals process is underway.
Williams wrote that in-person access is crucial to quality journalism: "In my view, trying to cover the Justice Department or the Pentagon without regularly being present in the building is like trying to write a restaurant review without going to the restaurant and trying the food."