"A federal judge on Friday blocked the Pentagon’s press policy to bar journalists from obtaining any information not explicitly approved for release by defense officials as a clear violation of the First Amendment meant to 'weed out disfavored journalists.'"
The policy, instituted by Hegseth in October 2025, required reporters to sign agreements limiting the release of non-approved, unclassified information, restricted access to the press room, and mandated escorts, favoring specifically selected, often pro-Trump, media outlets.
Of the 56 news outlets in the Pentagon Press Association, only one (1) agreed to sign onto the policy. The remaining 55 were kicked out.
"Since the media exodus, veteran journalists have been replaced by individuals (including Mike Lindell, Laura Loomer and Matt Gaetz) and media outlets who closely align with the Trump administration and espouse viewpoints the department favors, plaintiff The New York Times claimed in its Dec 4 lawsuit.
"U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the policy was necessary for national security, noting the military’s recent actions across the globe raise the need for transparency within the Pentagon. The court: '... especially in light of the country’s recent incursion into Venezuela and its ongoing war with Iran, it is more important than ever that the public have access to information from a variety of perspectives about what its government is doing — so that the public can support government policies, if it wants to support them; protest, if it wants to protest; and decide based on full, complete and open information who they are going to vote for in the next election. As Justice [Louis] Brandeis correctly observed, ‘sunlight is the most powerful of all disinfectants.’”
Chalk one up for the First Amendment.
Federal judge nukes Pentagon press policy | Courthouse News Service
Trump administration hates those pesky amendments.
.
I hadn't really paid much attention to the details behind this pledge that nobody signed. A journalist couldn't report on information sourced outside of official releases? What kind of soft BS is that? If a Dem tried that, they'd go out of their minds protesting it.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
DoD has now closed media offices in the Pentagon (used by the press for decades) after a federal judge ruled that Trump/Hegseth’s press credentialing policy was unconstitutional. The press will be relocated to new space in an annex that “will be available when ready.” No information was provided as to when the space would be ready.
There will still be press briefings in the Pentagon but don’t expect Hegseth to answer questions from any outlet that doesn’t suck up to Trump. This administration is hellbent on strictly controlling the dissemination of information, federal courts be damned.
The closure of the Pentagon media offices would be headline news in any other administration, but it’s just another day in our backsliding democracy. A bright light must continue to shine on the First Amendment as a critical check on expanding executive power.
Pentagon to issue new press credentials but remove media offices | AP News
The SecDef is childish and unprofessional so his response to this is unsurprisingly childish and unprofessional.
@aloha-hoosier Yes. Definitely petty, but the bigger issue is that this administration is becoming more authoritarian by the day.