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Pentagon defies court order on press access with circumventing 'Interim Policy'

On April 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled that the Department of Defense violated his March 20, 2026 order voiding key provisions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's restrictive Pentagon press policy as unconstitutional. Days after that ruling, the Department had issued a new "Interim Policy" that abruptly closed the Correspondents' Corridor press workspace and barred credentialed journalists from moving through the Pentagon unescorted — measures the court called "transparent attempts to negate the impact of this court's order," achieving "the same unconstitutional result" with "slightly different language." The judge barred enforcement of the new policy against New York Times Pentagon reporters and ordered their physical access to the building restored.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Arlington, Virginia

Abuses documented

Actors

The event recorded here is the Department of Defense's circumvention of a standing federal court order — a violation found by the court itself. On March 20, 2026, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman of the District of Columbia ruled that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Pentagon press policy violated the First and Fifth Amendments, struck down its challenged provisions, and ordered the press credentials of seven New York Times journalists restored. Within days, the Department issued a new "Interim Policy" that closed the Correspondents' Corridor — the press workspace inside the Pentagon where journalists have worked for decades — and required credentialed reporters to be escorted at all times inside the building.

On April 9, 2026, Judge Friedman ruled that the Interim Policy violated his March order. "The Department cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking 'new' action and expect the court to look the other way," he wrote, finding the corridor closure and escort ban "not security measures or efforts to make good on prior commitments but rather transparent attempts to negate the impact of this court's order." With the Interim Policy, he wrote, the Department "has invoked slightly different language to achieve the same unconstitutional result," adding that "suppression of political speech is the mark of an autocracy, not a democracy." The court barred enforcement of the new policy against the Times' Pentagon reporters and ordered the Department to restore their physical access to the building. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Department "has at all times complied with the Court's Order" and announced an appeal.

The underlying policy dates to fall 2025, when nearly the entire Pentagon press corps surrendered credentials rather than accept rules allowing officials to revoke press passes over routine newsgathering; The New York Times sued in December 2025. On April 27, 2026, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit stayed the portion of the district court's ruling prohibiting the escort requirement while the appeal proceeds, leaving the rest of the April 9 ruling in effect.

Why we recorded this

A court's order binds the government as much as anyone else; an administration that disagrees may appeal, but it may not quietly reinstate the same conduct under a new label and carry on as before. Here a federal judge found that the Defense Department did exactly that, issuing an "Interim Policy" the court called a transparent attempt to reach "the same unconstitutional result" the judge had already barred. We record the episode because the rule of law depends on court orders being obeyed in substance and not merely worked around, and a judicial finding that an agency defied a standing order is precisely the kind of erosion this archive exists to track.

Sources

  1. Pentagon violated court order on press access, judge rules — The Washington Post primary accessed June 7, 2026
  2. Judge blocks Pentagon's latest bid to limit press access in scathing ruling — CNN primary accessed June 7, 2026
  3. Federal judge: Pentagon press access policy is unconstitutional — Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press secondary accessed June 7, 2026
  4. Federal Judge Finds Pentagon Is Violating Court Order to Restore Access to Reporters — Military.com secondary accessed June 7, 2026

See also