The Trump administration’s plan to restrict which journalists can access the Pentagon just hit a major snag. A federal judge ruled Friday that the Defense Department’s new press credentialing policy is unconstitutional and ordered the Pentagon to stop enforcing it immediately.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman agreed with The New York Times that the policy violates the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to due process. The Times had sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon back in December, arguing that the credentialing rules were designed to silence unfavorable coverage of the Trump administration.

Here’s what went down: The Pentagon introduced new rules that reporters had to agree to in order to maintain press credentials. Journalists who refused to sign on, including those from The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and The Times, either lost their access or faced serious restrictions. Meanwhile, conservative outlets and right-wing personalities who agreed to the policy kept their full credentials.

Friedman wasn’t having it. The judge found “undisputed evidence” that the Pentagon was trying to weed out “disfavored journalists” and replace them with those “on board and willing to serve” the government. He pointed out that the policy was so vague that journalists had no way of knowing what ordinary reporting practices might get their credentials revoked.

What really got the judge’s attention was the blatant double standard. Trump ally Laura Loomer, who agreed to the Pentagon’s rules, created a “tip line” to solicit information from military personnel. The Pentagon had zero problem with that. But when The Washington Post tried to set up a similar tip line, the Pentagon shut it down, claiming it “targeted” military employees. Friedman noted there was basically no meaningful difference between the two, just selective enforcement.

“The undisputed evidence shows the policy is designed to weed out disfavored journalists”, Friedman wrote in his decision. He ordered the Pentagon to reinstate press credentials for seven Times journalists and ruled that his decision applies to all reporters affected by the policy.

The Pentagon isn’t backing down though. Spokesperson Sean Parnell announced they’re appealing the decision immediately, claiming the policy just contains “common sense” rules to protect national security. But the judge made clear that while national security matters, the public deserves access to information from different perspectives, especially during wartime, so we can actually know what our government is doing with our tax dollars.

The ruling is a massive win for press freedom advocates and outlets that refused to play ball with the Pentagon’s credentialing squeeze. The Pentagon Press Association, which represents journalists including AP reporters, called it “a great day for freedom of the press in the United States”. Now we’ll have to see if the Pentagon actually complies with the court order or doubles down on their appeal.