New York Times takes Pentagon to court over Hegseth’s sweeping media restrictions

The New York Times has launched legal action against the Pentagon, seeking to overturn new media rules introduced by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, which have resulted in most mainstream news organisations being expelled from the building.

 

According to the Times, the rules breach constitutional protections for freedom of speech and due process, as they grant Mr Hegseth unilateral authority to decide whether a journalist should be barred. The Times and several other outlets walked out of the Pentagon rather than accept the new conditions required to obtain press accreditation.

 

The Pentagon press room is now largely occupied by conservative outlets that agreed to the rules, and representatives from these organisations attended a briefing on Tuesday (2 December 2025) with Mr Hegseth’s Press Secretary.

 

“The policy is an attempt to exert control over reporting the government dislikes,” said Charles Stadtlander, spokesperson for the Times. The lawsuit was filed with the US District Court in Washington on Thursday (4 December 2025).

 

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Although stripped of accreditation, outlets excluded from the Pentagon have continued to report extensively on military affairs. Many have recently scrutinised Mr Hegseth’s involvement in military strikes on boats suspected of carrying drug smugglers -- including one vessel reportedly hit a second time after survivors were seen.

The Times argues that revoking access hinders its journalists’ ability to perform their duties. It further contends that giving Mr Hegseth the power to remove reporters working on stories he disfavors -- even where no classified material is involved -- exerts a chilling effect on the press. Lawyers warn that the policy could inspire similar restrictions across other federal departments.

The Pentagon maintains that the new rules are “common-sense” measures designed to prevent the release of information that could endanger military personnel. During Tuesday’s briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said legacy media outlets were “not missed”.

“The American people don’t trust these propagandists because they stopped telling the truth,” Mr Wilson said. “We’re not going to beg these old gatekeepers to come back, and we’re not rebuilding a broken model just to appease them.”

 

Major news organisations including the Associated Press, Washington Post, and CNN requested access to Mr Wilson’s briefing but were denied entry, being told that it was restricted to credentialled press only.

 

The Times is citing Mr Wilson’s “propagandists” remark as evidence that the Pentagon is discriminating against journalists based on their viewpoints. This mirrors arguments made by the Associated Press in its ongoing case challenging President Donald Trump’s restrictions on AP reporters’ access to events in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One.

 

Times lawyers believe their case on viewpoint discrimination is stronger because its reporters can no longer enter the Pentagon at all, whereas AP journalists still have access to the White House, though not to certain events.

 

The Times’ lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the newspaper and reporter Julian E. Barnes. The defendants named are the Defence Department, Mr Hegseth, and chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.

 

In a statement, the Pentagon Press Association, which represents journalists covering the department, welcomed the Times’ effort to defend press freedom, stating: “The Defence Department’s attempt to restrict how credentialled reporters gather news and what information they may publish is antithetical to a free and independent press and prohibited by the First Amendment.”

 

While proceeding independently in order to move swiftly, the Times said it would welcome support from other news organisations.

 

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