NY Times Sues Pentagon Over Press Restrictions, Citing First Amendment

The New York Times sued the Pentagon early Thursday, claiming the War Department's new restrictions on reporting about the military violate reporters' constitutional rights.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, challenges a policy that took effect in October requiring reporters to sign a 21-page form that limits certain journalistic activities, including requests for story tips and inquiries to sources, the newspaper reported.

The policy "is exactly the type of speech- and press-restrictive scheme that the Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit have recognized violates the First Amendment," the Times said in a summary of its filing.

The paper asked the court to block enforcement of the rules and to declare unlawful the provisions that it says restrict First Amendment activity.

A draft of the new restrictions emerged in September and was revised after pushback from lawyers representing news organizations.

The final rules were released Oct. 6.

More than a week later, dozens of credentialed journalists, including six from the Times, surrendered their badges rather than sign the document, according to the lawsuit summary.
Those outlets have continued reporting on the military despite the access limits.

Many major news organizations condemned the policy in October as an infringement on press freedoms, including Newsmax, which sided with the other organizations and refused to sign the document, arguing that the Pentagon's move could set a precedent affecting coverage of future administrations, including Democrat ones.

ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News said in a joint statement that "The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections."

At a press briefing on Wednesday, a senior Times lawyer said there had been discussions with other news organizations about joining the lawsuit, but the newspaper decided to proceed on its own.

Also on Wednesday, War Department civilian and military officials met with more than two dozen members of a newly appointed Pentagon press corps, selected after more than 150 round-robin, one-on-one interviews.

The new corps includes independent journalists, bloggers, and social media influencers who entered the Pentagon for the first time this week to begin covering the War Department. Most are not affiliated with legacy media outlets.

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the "new media" will work differently from traditional outlets and is better equipped to inform the public about the Pentagon's activities.

The War Department said members of the new press corps, who signed the agreement being contested by the Times, will allow it to "continue that tradition of having resident media here in the building to hold us accountable and to help with our commitment to transparency."

The Pentagon, after the legacy media left over the agreement, announced that a new group of outlets had agreed to the restrictions and would work from press space in the building.

The arrivals include pro-Trump outlets that have echoed administration talking points, according to the Times' lawsuit.

The publication said the rules represent a sharp change from previous guidelines in length and scope and are intended "to close the doors of the Pentagon, those areas that have historically been open to the press, to news organizations, like plaintiffs, that investigate and report without fear or favor about the actions of the department and its leadership."

In a statement, the company said it "intends to vigorously defend against the violation of these rights, just as we have long done throughout administrations opposed to scrutiny and accountability."

Pentagon officials have described access to military facilities as a privilege subject to regulation. The policy "is about preventing leaks that damage operational security and national security," the Pentagon said in an October statement. "It's common sense."

The rules are the latest step in a months-long effort by War Secretary Pete Hegseth to curtail access and privileges long held by the Pentagon press corps.

Hegseth arrived at the Pentagon in January after a contentious confirmation process that surfaced allegations of excessive drinking and sexual assault, which he has said were untrue.

Early in his tenure, he proposed evicting from the Pentagon a veteran NBC News reporter involved in coverage of him.

The department later stripped several national news outlets of their Pentagon workspaces, offering them mostly to conservative outlets, and imposed additional limits on where reporters can move inside the complex.

The Times' lawsuit challenges multiple provisions of the policy, including one addressing instances in which reporters "solicit government employees to violate the law by providing confidential government information."

The newspaper said that language threatens "lawful, routine news gathering techniques."

Clashes over press access to federal buildings have arisen repeatedly during President Donald Trump's two terms.

During Trump's first administration, the White House pulled the press passes of two correspondents, who regained them after litigation.

In those cases, the government targeted one journalist or outlet for punishment, the Times said.

This year, The Associated Press sued after it was excluded from some White House press pool events in small spaces such as the Oval Office; that litigation is ongoing.

Newsmax signed a letter in support of The Associated Press.