‘What’s going on?’: US judge calls aspects of new Pentagon press policy ‘weird’

Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, and Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, hold a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington DC, in 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Federal judge Paul Friedman seemed skeptical of the new press policy implemented by the Pentagon last week, calling aspects of it “weird” and Kafkaesque.

Friedman struck down key aspects of the previously implemented Pentagon media policy on 20 March, but at the latest hearing on Monday stopped short of ruling on a motion filed by the New York Times to force compliance of his decision.