Wednesday is Day Thirteen since Judge Paul Friedman's April 9 finding that the Department of War is violating his March 20 preliminary injunction on press access at the Pentagon. [1] The paper's Tuesday standard read Day Twelve against Article 4 of the Ansari impeachment resolution. The Pentagon's appeal remains unperfected in the D.C. Circuit. The plaintiffs' counsel has not filed a contempt motion. The Correspondents' Corridor remains closed to unescorted reporters.

Friedman's April 9 language was specific. The Pentagon's revised policy "invoked slightly different language to achieve that same unconstitutional result." [2] The department "cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking 'new' action and expect the Court to look the other way." [3] Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department disagrees and will appeal. No expedited-hearing order has issued. [3]

The mechanics of the stalemate are now the story. Friedman's remedial options — civil contempt, a special master, mandamus — remain unexercised. The April 22, 2025 Pentagon motion-to-dismiss posture from last year has not been updated on the trial docket. The New York Times plaintiffs' counsel has not moved contempt; the calendar runs without an enforcement event.

Article 4 of the April 15 Ansari impeachment resolution — Obstruction of Congressional Oversight — names the conduct in the congressional record but produces no courtroom artifact. [4] The House Judiciary Committee has not noticed a markup. Zero Republican cosponsors.

Thirteen days is now the measure of a federal First Amendment injunction the executive branch has chosen to read as advisory.

-- SAMUEL CRANE, Washington