The Pentagon can temporarily require all journalists visiting the building to be accompanied by an official escort, an appeals court ruled Monday. The restriction is allowed while the department appeals an earlier ruling that found major parts of the Defense Department’s restrictions on the press unconstitutional.
In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Pentagon had “supported” its claim that the escort requirement “furthers important national security interests.”
The panel’s ruling is one of the first legal wins for the Pentagon in its efforts to restrict reporters who cover the military complex, which have been ramping up since early in the Trump administration. Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, has repeatedly curtailed journalists’ privileges and access within the Pentagon, an effort that culminated in October with a comprehensive set of restrictions on reporters who cover the complex. Those restrictions enabled the Pentagon to designate journalists as “security risks” and revoke their press passes.
The New York Times filed suit against the restrictions in December on the grounds that they violated journalists’ First and Fifth Amendment rights. In March, a federal judge sided with The Times and tossed out major parts of the agency’s press policy.
But the Pentagon responded three days later with a revised policy that included new restrictions on journalists’ physical access to the building, including the official escort requirement and the shuttering of a journalistic workspace in the building.
The federal judge tossed out that policy, too, and rejected the Pentagon’s request to keep its restrictions in place until the appeal played out. The Pentagon has appealed both rulings.
The department has claimed that the escort requirement is a measure critical to preventing leaks of classified information to journalists at the Pentagon.
Kingsley Wilson, the press secretary for the department, argued in a separate declaration with the court that without escorts, journalists could “observe activity patterns” among defense officials in order to gather sensitive information. The Times responded that Ms. Wilson had provided no evidence to back up that claim.
Judges Justin R. Walker, a Trump appointee, and Bradley Garcia, a Biden appointee, ruled in the majority. Judge J. Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, wrote in dissent, “Reporters can hardly verify sources, gather information or speak candidly with department personnel with an escort looming over their shoulders.”
A spokesman for The Times said in a statement that the newspaper “will continue to seek resolution in this case and argue for the right of journalists to freely cover the American military, so the public can understand the actions it is undertaking in their name and with their tax dollars.”
Sean Parnell, the Defense Department’s chief spokesman, said on social media that the department “welcomed” the panel’s ruling, and that the current access policy, which includes the escort requirement, had helped reduce unauthorized disclosures, “which when they occur can endanger the lives of service members, intelligence personnel, and our allies.”
