Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting at the White House on December 2, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

The New York Times is suing the Department of Defense over the Pentagon’s new restrictions on press access.

The lawsuit, set to be filed in federal court in Washington, DC, names the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, as defendants.

The lawsuit seeks the repeal of a new policy, instituted in October, that prompted Pentagon beat reporters to turn in their press passes rather than sign onto the restrictions.

“The policy is an attempt to exert control over reporting the government dislikes, in violation of a free press’ right to seek informatio

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