The Department of Defense issued a press policy in autumn 2025 conditioning Pentagon credentials on agreement to new restrictions on reporting and movement within the building.
At the 15 October 2025 deadline, journalists from nearly every major US news organization — including the broadcast networks, the wire services, the national newspapers, and outlets across the political spectrum such as Fox News and Newsmax — declined to sign and turned in their badges. Of the more than 100 people who cover the Pentagon, about 15 had signed by the deadline. On 22 October the department announced a replacement press corps: spokesman Sean Parnell said more than 60 journalists had agreed to the policy, 26 of them previously credentialed. Among the new signers were The Gateway Pundit, The National Pulse, Human Events, Just the News, Frontlines by Turning Point USA, LindellTV and the podcaster Tim Pool.
On 4 December 2025 the New York Times Company and its intelligence reporter Julian E. Barnes sued the department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Parnell. In March 2026 a federal judge granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, holding the policy unconstitutional; the government appealed.