New York Times sues Pentagon again over ‘utterly unreasonable’ press restrictions

The New York Times has filed a second lawsuit against the Pentagon, arguing that its recent policy requiring journalists to have official escorts when on Pentagon grounds is unconstitutional.

The Trump administration unveiled sweeping restrictions on press access at the US Department of Defense, which it calls the Department of War, last September.

In a suit filed in the US district court in Washington on Monday, the Times argued that an interim policy introduced in the spring had imposed “utterly unreasonable” restrictions on journalists attempting to cover the department.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of the New York Times and reporter Julian E Barnes, names the Department of Defense, the secretary, Pete Hegseth, Pentagon chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, and special adviser Timothy Parlatore as defendants.

In the complaint, the Times argues that “to report effectively on the Department, a reporter often must speak with over a dozen officials sitting in Public Affairs offices spread throughout the building”. For decades, it added, the Pentagon’s press access policies “reflected this physical reality” by allowing reporters unescorted access in unsecured corridors, “so that they can move from press office to press office and ask questions on short notice as events unfolded”.

But a policy that the Pentagon adopted in March “breaks sharply from that history and tradition”, the paper argued. “Now, to ask even one question, Barnes and other reporters must call or email for an appointment, wait for a response, get an escort, ask their question, and return to the library outside the Pentagon – only to repeat the process for the next source.

“Reporters must either forgo conversations or else spend hours chasing schedulers by phone and shuttling in and out of the building,” the complaint adds.

The defense department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon has previously said press access to the department is “a privilege extended by the government”.