Pentagon to remove media offices from building after judge strikes down rules for reporters

The Defense Department announced Monday that it would eliminate media offices at the Pentagon after a federal judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging limits on journalists’ access to the building.

An area of ​​the Pentagon known as the “Correspondents’ Corridor” that journalists I have been using for decades to cover the U.S. military will close immediately, department spokesman Sean Parnell said. Journalists will eventually be able to work from an “annex” outside the building, which he said “will be available when ready.” He gave no details on how long it will take.

The New York Times quickly responded, arguing that the decision violated the judge’s order and was unconstitutional. Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement: “We will return to court.”

The Pentagon Press Association called the policy “a blatant violation of the letter and spirit of last week’s decision.”

“At such a critical time, we question why the Pentagon is choosing to restrict vital press freedoms that help inform all Americans,” the group wrote in a statement, referring to the war with Iran and the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela.

The new policy marks the latest dispute over press access under President Trump’s administration, which has limited traditional media outlets while boosting conservative outlets.

Dozens of journalists – including from CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, CNN and Fox News – have renounced their accreditations to the Pentagon last fall, after the military required journalists to sign a series of new restrictions to maintain daily access to the building. The policy suggested that journalists who “solicited” classified or sensitive information from military personnel could be considered a security risk and barred from the building.

The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the agency’s new accreditation policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., last week I took the side of the newspaper. He ordered the Pentagon to reinstate the press credentials of seven Times journalists and reversed some of the agency’s restrictions on reporting, including the policy on soliciting information.

Friedman said the “undisputed evidence” shows the policy was designed to eliminate “disadvantaged journalists” and replace them with those who are “on board and willing to serve” the government, in what he considers a case of illegal viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. He also said the policy was unconstitutionally vague and it was unclear to journalists what types of conduct did or did not violate the rules.

Parnell said the Ministry of Defense disagreed with the decision and was continuing its appeal. He said security concerns had led to restrictions on press access, a claim journalists rejected.

Under the latest Pentagon rules announced Monday, journalists will still have access to the Pentagon for news conferences and interviews hosted by the department’s public affairs team, but they will need to be escorted, Parnell wrote on social media.

The policy adopted last year also included new restrictions on journalists’ access to certain parts of the building. Friedman did not cancel these portions.

The current Pentagon press corps is primarily made up of conservative media outlets who have accepted last year’s policies. Media journalists who refused to accept the new rules continued to cover the military.