The Department of Defense on Monday announced a list of new press regulations, just days after a federal judge ruled that the agency’s recent crackdown on media violated the First Amendment.
The updated regulations underscore the Pentagon’s new conservative approach to working with the press. Included in the list is the establishment of a separate press “annex” on Pentagon grounds, though no timeline was given for opening the new site. Officials say the changes are necessary for security and the revised policy maintains the strict limits on access to the building put in place by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last year.
The on-site Pentagon press corps, which has historically been composed of members of major publications across print, radio and television, has since lost nearly all of its membership and now is composed largely of a slate of far-right media outlets.
The New York Times sued the agency last year after the changes were implemented, and on Friday, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled in favor of the news agency and ordered the Pentagon to reinstate the Times’ reporters.
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“Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation’s security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by governmental suppression of political speech,” Friedman wrote. “That principle has preserved the nation’s security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now.”
In a post to X on Monday evening, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the department would comply with the Friday ruling, but planned to appeal.
“The Department always complies with court orders but disagrees with the decision and is pursuing an appeal,” Parnell said. “In the interim, and in compliance with the court’s order, I have signed the revised ‘Pentagon Reservation In-Brief for Media Members,’ effective immediately.”
As of part of the “revised” orders, those with Pentagon press credentials will now be sequestered into a new “annex facility outside the Pentagon, but still on Pentagon grounds.”
“In assessing the Department’s security posture following the court’s removal of all security screening authority, the Department determined that unescorted access to the Pentagon cannot be responsibly maintained without the ability to screen credential holders for security risks,” the post read. “Effective immediately, the Correspondents’ Corridor is closed.”
Additionally, “All journalist access to the Pentagon will require escort by authorized Department personnel.”
It was not immediately clear from Parnell’s post how or if the Times journalists would be reinstated. Parnell said the new press annex “will be available when ready.”
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