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1. MaddowBlog-After losing key court case, Hegseth's Pentagon imposes new limits on journalists

Last week a federal court rejected Defense Department press restrictions. This week the DOD is moving forward with new limits on journalists anyway.

After losing key court case, Hegseth’s Pentagon imposes new limits on journalists - MS NOW apple.news/ADNnuWIT-TkO...

— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2026-03-24T14:59:37.713Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hegseth-pentagon-media-restrictions-judge

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman ruled against the Pentagon’s restrictive press access policy, concluding that it violated the First Amendment and granted the government overly broad authority to control access to the press corps. The court decision fueled some hopes that conditions at the Defense Department might return to normal.

Those hopes were soon dashed. The New York Times, which helped take the lead in challenging the Hegseth-imposed restrictions, reported:

The Pentagon is closing the workspace used for years by journalists with credentials to cover the military, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, wrote in a memo to senior Pentagon leadership. A new area for the press will be set up in an annex outside the main Pentagon building, he said, and all journalists now seeking physical access to the Pentagon will require an escort.

In addition, the department is changing the wording of some of the rules for journalists requesting a credential, Mr. Parnell wrote.

As far as Hegseth’s team is concerned, the department can impose these restrictions, limiting access to media organizations, without running afoul of Friday’s court ruling, which the Pentagon is appealing.

The Times doesn’t quite see it that way. “The new policy does not comply with the judge’s order. It continues to impose unconstitutional restrictions on the press,” a spokesperson for the newspaper said. “We will be going back to court.”

The Pentagon Press Association similarly said that the department’s latest announcement “is a clear violation of the letter and spirit of last week’s ruling.”