WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Defense Department can require journalists to be escorted on Pentagon grounds while the Trump administration appeals a judge's decision blocking enforcement of its press access policy. A divided three-judge panel granted the government's request to suspend an April 9 decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman.

The panel's majority opinion said the administration is likely to succeed in showing that the policy's escort requirement is legally valid. Circuit Judges Justin Walker, J. Michelle Childs, and Bradley Garcia heard the case, with Childs dissenting from the 2-1 majority.

"Reporters can hardly verify sources, gather information, or speak candidly with Department personnel with an escort looming over their shoulders," Childs wrote. Friedman had ruled that the Defense Department was violating his earlier order to restore access to the Pentagon for reporters. He found that the Pentagon's new credential policy violated journalists' constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Friedman said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's team had tried to evade his March 20 ruling by putting in new rules that expel all reporters from the building unless guided by escorts.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said the department welcomes the panel's decision and looks forward to arguing the merits of its full case before the same panel. He said unescorted access to the Pentagon has led to the "regular unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and classified national defense information."

"Since implementing the current access policy, the Department has seen a meaningful reduction in these unauthorized disclosures, which when they occur can endanger the lives of service members, intelligence personnel, and our allies," he wrote.

Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for The New York Times, said the news organization would continue to contest the policy. "We look forward to defending the full scope of the district court's rulings in The Times's favor in this appeal," Boutrous said.

Walker was nominated by President Donald Trump, while Garcia and Childs were nominated by President Joe Biden. Friedman was nominated by President Bill Clinton.