WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon policy limiting journalists' access to the building is depriving Americans of vital information about U.S. military operations while the country is at war, a New York Times attorney argued Friday in urging a judge to block the new rules.
“It's more important than ever for the public to know as much as they can,” Times attorney Theodore Boutrous told U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman during the first hearing for the newspaper's lawsuit against the Defense Department.
Friedman didn't immediately rule on whether to order the Pentagon to reinstate press credentials for reporters who walked out of the building last October rather than agree to the new rules. But the judge's remarks suggested he was skeptical of key arguments in the government's defense of the policy.
Friedman, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton, suggested it is “more important than ever” for Americans to hear “a variety of views” about the activities of the federal government and its elected leaders.
“A lot of things need to be held tightly and secure, but openness and transparency allows members of the public to know what their government is doing,” the judge said.
Justice Department attorney Michael Bruns said the credentialing policy reflects the government's “compelling interest” and its “statutory obligation” to protect national security information.
“This is not a trivial exercise,” Bruns argued.
Friedman said he intends to issue “as prompt a decision as I can, because I know it's important for lots of reasons.”
The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the credentialing policy violates the journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.
Times spokesperson Charles Stadtlander said the U.S. attacks on Iran — and the resulting deaths of American troops — “illuminate the public’s right to access deep, impartial reporting on the details of the military actions happening as we speak.”
“Today was an important opportunity for The New York Times’s lawyers to make our case for the clear importance and public service of allowing journalists to report fully on the Pentagon,” Stadtlander said in a statement.
The current Pentagon press corps comprises mostly conservative outlets that agreed to the policy. Reporters from outlets that refused to consent to the new rules, including those from The Associated Press, have continued reporting on the military from outside the building.
The AP, meanwhile, is awaiting a decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals on its separate lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration. The AP contends that Trump’s team punished it by reducing its access to presidential events because the outlet hasn’t followed the president’s lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
The Pentagon has argued that the policy imposes “common sense” rules that protect the military from the disclosure of national security information.
“The goal of that process is to prevent those who pose a security risk from having broad access to American military headquarters,” government attorneys wrote.
Times attorneys claim the policy is designed to silence unfavorable press coverage of Trump’s administration.
“The First Amendment flatly prohibits the government from granting itself the unbridled power to restrict speech because the mere existence of such arbitrary authority can lead to self-censorship,” they wrote.
The Times argues that the Pentagon has applied its own rules inconsistently. The newspaper said Trump ally Laura Loomer, a right-wing personality who agreed to the Pentagon policy, appeared to violate its prohibition on soliciting unauthorized information by promoting her “tip line.”
The government didn't object to Loomer's “general tip line” but concluded that a Washington Post tip line does violate its policy because it purportedly “targets” military personnel and department employees.
“It's mystifying,” Boutrous said. “It just doesn't make any sense.”
The judge asked Bruns, the government attorney, what standards are used to decide if a reporter poses a security risk.
“Don't there have to be some criteria that are applied in a uniform way?” Friedman asked.
Yes, Bruns answered. But he said the government has “far more leeway” to restrict speech in a secure forum like the Pentagon.
“The reason for the policy is the security of the Pentagon,” he added.
Yale Law School professor David Schulz, who represents the Pentagon Press Association, said the challenged policy represents a “stark break from the past.”
“The press has been in the building since the day it opened,” Schulz told the judge. “It has always been there.”
AP Media Writer David Bauder in New York contributed to this story.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at U.S. Southern Command in Doral, Fla., Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
FILE - The Pentagon is viewed from the window of an airplane Aug. 27, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Authorities in southern Michigan on Saturday were searching through rubble and debris after suspected tornadoes tore through the region and killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, during powerful storms also blamed for two deaths in eastern Oklahoma.
First responders from multiple agencies were in the Union Lake area near Union City searching for more possible victims and clearing roads, authorities said. Photos and videos posted on social media showed flattened homes and knocked down trees in a lakeside neighborhood.
Severe thunderstorms that began in northern Indiana appeared to spawn multiple tornadoes in southern Michigan on Friday, said Lonnie Fisher, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, which sent teams to the region Saturday to evaluate the damage and confirm tornadoes.
“Mostly likely there were three distinct tornadoes, but we won’t know 100 percent for sure until they finish the survey,” Fisher said Saturday, adding that the storms rapidly intensified in southern Michigan after hitting northern Indiana.
The threat of severe weather continued Saturday in the nation's midsection, with strong thunderstorms possible stretching from Texas and to the northeast all the way to Ohio and western parts of Pennsylvania and New York.
Later Saturday, the National Weather Service said an initial assessment confirmed that a EF3 tornado with winds of at least 150 mph (241 kph) struck the Union Lake area. Surveys in other damaged areas were pending. Tornado watches were posted Saturday afternoon for eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western parts of Pennsylvania and New York.
Three people were killed and 12 were injured in the Union Lake area, according to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office.
Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and took video of a terrifying scene that played out on the other side of frozen Union Lake as a funnel cloud formed and then dropped toward the ground. Trees were torn from their roots and debris flew into the air.
“It’s lifting houses!” she said. As the devastation continued, she exclaimed: “Oh my heart is pounding. Oh, I hope they’re OK.”
About 50 miles (81 kilometers) southwest of Union Lake, the Cass County Sherriff's Office said a 12-year-old boy died and several other people were injured during a possible tornado. Sheriff Clint Roach said in a Facebook post that Silas Anderson's parents found him injured and provided first aid, but he later died at a hospital.
Disaster relief workers were going door to door in the Union City and Three Rivers areas to offer meals and clean-up supplies, state officials said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would be declaring a state of emergency in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties.
In Oklahoma, just south of Tulsa, a tornado in Beggs was blamed for the deaths of two people in a house on Friday, the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office said. Two other people were taken to a hospital.
The tornado cut around a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) path of damage in Okmulgee County including Beggs, some 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tulsa, said Jeff Moore, the county’s emergency manager. Large trees were toppled and power outages were reported.
Suspected tornadoes also were reported in northern parts of Tulsa, where a building at the Tulsa Tech Peoria campus was damaged.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Saturday that he declared a state of emergency in several counties to free up support and resources for affected areas.
The Oklahoma deaths came a day after storms killed a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter in Fairview in the western part of the state. Authorities said they were found dead in a vehicle.
In an eerie scene captured on video Thursday, a first responder drove straight at a storm near Fairview, where flashes of lightning illuminated a giant funnel that appeared to reach the ground. That storm, among the first outbreaks of severe weather on the verge of the spring storm season, was filmed by a camera mounted on the deputy’s car.
The National Weather Service said strong storms and flash flood risks on Saturday stretched from the Great Lakes to Texas. A tornado watch that was issued for a large portion of Arkansas and parts of Texas and Louisiana expired in the morning.
The spring storms come near the start of what many call tornado season, which generally begins at various times in different parts of the U.S. Experts recommend a few simple safety steps to take before tornadoes hit, including having a weather radio and a plan for where to take shelter.
In parts of the southern U.S., the weather pattern is also expected to usher in extremely warm temperatures for this time of year by the weekend.
Volunteers work to clear branches and tress felled by a storm that whipped up a tornado a day earlier, in Union City Mich., Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A storm-damaged garage door sits folded a day after a storm that whipped up a tornado ripped through the area, in Union City Mich., Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A volunteer works to clear debris a day after a storm whipped up a tornado through the area, in Union City Mich., Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Carlos Lawrence and Miranda Turner view a downed tree from a storm on Friday, March 6, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons /Tulsa World via AP)
The Tulsa Tech Peoria Campus damaged by a Friday night storm is shown Saturday, March 7, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
The Tulsa Tech Peoria Campus damaged by a Friday night storm is shown Saturday, March 7, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
The Tulsa Tech Peoria Campus damaged by a Friday night storm is shown Saturday, March 7, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
The Tulsa Tech Peoria Campus damaged by a Friday night storm is shown Saturday, March 7, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons /Tulsa World via AP)
The Tulsa Tech Peoria Campus damaged by a Friday night storm is shwon Saturday, March 7, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons /Tulsa World via AP)
Debris covers the ground after a storm. Friday, March 6, 2026 in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons /Tulsa World via AP)
Damage is seen at Menard's store after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)
Damage is seen after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)
Damage is seen after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)
Damage is seen at the Menard's store after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)
FILE - This photo shows the National Weather Service monitoring station in Brownville, Texas, May 23, 2014. (David Pike/Valley Morning Star via AP, File)
This image taken from video provided by the Fairview, Okla., Emergency Management shows a severe weather system west of Fairview, Okla., late Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Danny Giager/ Fairview Emergency Management via AP)
