The New York Times sues the Pentagon over Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth's media rules
[December 05, 2025]
By DAVID BAUDER
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times filed a lawsuit Thursday against the
Pentagon, attempting to overturn new rules imposed by Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth that have led to most mainstream media outlets being
banished from the building.
The newspaper said the rules violate the Constitution's freedom of
speech and due process provisions, since they give Hegseth the power to
determine on his own whether a reporter should be banned. Outlets such
as the Times walked out of the Pentagon rather than agree to the rules
as a condition for getting a press credential.
The Pentagon press room now includes mostly conservative outlets that
agreed to the rules, and representatives from those organizations
participated Tuesday in a briefing with Hegseth's press secretary.
“The policy is an attempt to exert control over reporting the government
dislikes,” said Charles Stadtlander, spokesman for the Times. The
newspaper filed the case with the U.S. District Court in Washington.
The Pentagon had no immediate response to a request for comment on
lawsuit.
Many still reporting on Pentagon from afar
Despite losing credentials, outlets denied access to the Pentagon have
continued reporting on the military. They have led coverage this past
week on stories that questioned Hegseth's role in military strikes on
boats with alleged drug smugglers, including one targeted with a second
strike after survivors were spotted.
Nevertheless, the Times said denial of access to the Pentagon restricts
its reporters' ability to do their job. Because the new policy gives
Hegseth the right to oust reporters working on stories he does not like,
even if those stories do not involve classified information, it has a
chilling effect on journalists, the newspaper argued in court papers.
Lawyers are also concerned similar restrictions will be put in place at
other federal agencies.
The Pentagon has argued that the policy imposes “common sense” rules
that protect the military from release of information that could put
them in danger. During her briefing Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary
Kingsley Wilson said the legacy media outlets are not missed.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump
speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2,
2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“The American people don’t trust these propagandists because they
stopped telling the truth,” Wilson said. “So, we’re not going to beg
these old gatekeepers to come back and we’re not rebuilding a broken
model just to appease them.”
Outlets that reach millions barred
Several news outlets whose coverage reaches millions of people,
including The Associated Press, Washington Post and CNN, asked the
Pentagon for access to Wilson's briefing. They were denied and told
it was for credentialed press only.
The Times is citing Wilson's “propagandists” comment as evidence
that the Pentagon is discriminating against reporters for their
points of view. That is the same argument that the AP is making to
stop President Donald Trump from denying access to its journalists
to events in the Oval Office and Air Force One. The AP case is
currently wending its way through the federal court system.
Times lawyers say they believe their viewpoint discrimination case
is stronger because Times reporters no longer have credentials to
enter the Pentagon. AP journalists are able to enter the White
House, but not to some specific newsmaking events there.
The Times' case is being filed on behalf of the newspaper and one of
its reporters, Julian E. Barnes. The Defense Department, Hegseth and
chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell are named as defendants.
In a statement, the Pentagon Press Association, a group that
represents journalists who cover the agency, said it was encouraged
by the Times' “effort to step up and defend press freedom. The
Defense Department's attempt to limit how credentialed reporters
gather the news and what information they may publish is
antithetical to a free and independent press and prohibited by the
First Amendment."
While going it alone in its lawsuit in order to move quickly, the
Times said it would welcome the support of other news organizations.
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