A federal judge dealt a major blow to the Trump administration on Friday, ruling that Pentagon restrictions on journalists violated the Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman, a Bill Clinton appointee, granted summary judgment to The New York Times, finding that key portions of a Defense Department policy setting alternate Pentagon press credentials were “unlawful because they violate the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution.”
The policy stemmed from an October 2025 memorandum issued to senior Pentagon leaders, prompting the Times’ lawsuit against the MAGA administration in December.
But Friedman, in a sharply worded opinion on Friday, stressed that public access to information is critical – especially during wartime.
“The court recognizes that national security must be protected, the security of our troops must be protected, and war plans must be protected,” he wrote in the four-page ruling. “But 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.”
The judge added that such transparency allows the public to support – or protest – government policies, “and decide based on a full, complete, and open information who they are going to vote for in the next election.”
Friedman’s ruling also ordered the immediate reinstatement of credentials for multiple Times reporters.
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