The Pentagon press credential purge, and the court that called it unconstitutional

Judge Paul Friedman ruled the challenged provisions of the credential policy unconstitutional under the First and Fifth Amendments, vacated them, and ordered credentials restored for seven Times journalists

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth imposed a policy in fall 2025 under which a journalist's receipt, publication or solicitation of controlled unclassified information could lead to immediate suspension or revocation of the press credential, and credential holders had to sign an acknowledgement of the policy by October 15, 2025 or lose their passes. On October 15, 2025, at least 30 outlets, nearly the entire mainstream Pentagon press corps, including AP, The New York Times, CBS, CNN, Fox News, Reuters, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, forfeited their credentials rather than sign, and were effectively replaced in Pentagon briefings by outlets more sympathetic to the administration.

The New York Times sued on December 4, 2025, arguing the pledge amounted to a prior-restraint licensing scheme for journalism, conditioning the ability to ask questions and gather information at all on agreeing not to publish anything not pre-cleared by the government being covered.

On March 20, 2026, Judge Paul Friedman ruled for the Times, finding the challenged provisions of the credentialing policy unconstitutional, as unreasonable and viewpoint discriminatory under the First Amendment and vague under the Fifth, vacating them, and ordering credentials restored for seven Times journalists, one of the clearest judicial findings in this entire bucket, resting on a genuine First Amendment prior-restraint theory rather than a procedural or standing issue.

Documented

Court ruled the policy unconstitutional and blocked its enforcement

Policy announced ~2025-09; mass forfeiture 2025-10-15; NYT suit filed 2025-12-04; ruling for NYT 2026-03-20