Appeals court lets Pentagon enforce escort rule

April 28, 2026

Summary

A federal appeals court let the Pentagon require escorted access for reporters while its appeal of a press policy ruling moves forward.

Why this matters

The ruling affects how journalists can report from the Pentagon while the broader lawsuit continues. It also could shape the balance between government security policies and press access at the Defense Department.

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Defense Department may require journalists to be escorted on Pentagon grounds while the Trump administration appeals a judge’s decision blocking enforcement of a new press access policy.

The 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was not a final decision in The New York Times’ lawsuit against the Pentagon. But the majority said the administration was likely to succeed in showing that the escort requirement was legally valid.

The panel granted the government’s request to pause an April 9 decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, who had ruled that the Defense Department was violating an earlier order to restore access to the Pentagon for reporters.

Last fall, the Pentagon required reporters covering the military to accept a series of restrictions to keep daily access to the building. Many news organizations, including CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, and Fox News, declined to accept the new rules.

The Times sued, and Friedman last month struck down parts of the policy. He said several restrictions were unconstitutional, including one that suggested reporters who “solicit” sensitive information from military personnel could be considered a security risk and removed from the building.

Earlier this month, Friedman ruled that the Pentagon violated his order by issuing a revised policy that barred reporters from the building unless they were accompanied by government escorts.

In Monday’s ruling, Circuit Judges Justin Walker and Bradley Garcia, who were appointed by Trump and former President Joe Biden, respectively, wrote that “an agency may respond to an adverse ruling by adopting a revised policy.”

Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was appointed by Biden, dissented.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell welcomed the decision and said the department would continue arguing its case before the panel. In a statement posted on social media, Parnell said unescorted access to the Pentagon had led to the “regular unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and classified national defense information.”

“Since implementing the current access policy, the Department has seen a meaningful reduction in these unauthorized disclosures, which when they occur can endanger the lives of service members, intelligence personnel, and our allies,” he wrote.

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