FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Washington, D.C., April 9, 2026 — Federal Judge Paul Friedman today entered an order compelling the Pentagon to comply with his prior prohibition against enforcing its unconstitutional press policy, which restricts journalists from asking questions to “unauthorized” personnel. The order was accompanied by a 20-page opinion explaining why the Pentagon’s revised policy was just a rehash of the one he struck down, and in some ways worse.
The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern:
“We appreciate Judge Friedman seeing the Pentagon’s revised policy for the nonsense it is and granting The New York Times’ motion. The Constitution, of course, allows and encourages journalists to ask questions to anyone they want, authorized or unauthorized, and to publish the answers they get.
“But at this point, any court order that responds to the administration’s blatant lawlessness with anything less than sanctions, contempt of court findings, and attorney disciplinary referrals is a disappointment. It’s easy to write opinions listing the myriad ways the administration flouts the Constitution and court orders. The hard part is doing something about it. The administration will likely play more games to avoid complying with today’s order as well. Hopefully, Judge Friedman will rise to the moment.”
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