A federal court has blocked one of the Pentagon’s strongest actions against an AI company, ruling that the designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk violated the First Amendment. The decision overturns defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s designation and leaves federal agencies barred from enforcing President Donald Trump’s order to stop using Anthropic’s tools.
Judge Rita Lin delivered the ruling in a 59-page decision on Thursday, April 30, 2026. Her message was direct: the government cannot use national security claims to punish a company for criticizing the Pentagon.
A retaliation finding with major consequences
The Department of Defense designated Anthropic a supply chain risk after the AI company publicly criticized the Pentagon. Judge Lin found that the action violated the First Amendment because the designation was based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic.
“The ‘empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics’,” Judge Lin said. The court ruled that the designation was illegal and baseless, rejecting the government’s use of an obscure government-procurement statute against the company.
The designation marked the first time a US company was publicly designated a supply-chain risk under that statute. That detail gives the case weight beyond the dispute between one AI company and the Department of Defense: it tests how far the government can go when a technology provider challenges its demands.
The Department of Defense relied on two distinct designations to justify its supply chain risk action. The ruling overturned Hegseth’s designation of Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” and made permanent the temporary suspension of sanctions ordered in March.
Anthropic’s legal challenge and the government’s defense
Anthropic argued that the government violated its right to free speech under the First Amendment and its right to due process under the Fifth Amendment. The company’s lawsuit said the decision was unlawful, unsupported by facts, and inconsistent with military praise of Claude.
That argument placed Anthropic’s public criticism at the heart of the case. The court found that the government had punished Anthropic for speaking publicly about the Pentagon, rather than relying on a valid basis for the supply chain risk designation.
The Department of Justice defended the government’s action by arguing that Anthropic’s refusal to lift restrictions could create uncertainty and risk disabling military systems. The court did not accept that argument as a legal basis for the designation, ruling that the action against Anthropic was illegal and baseless.
Anthropic welcomed the decision. “We welcome the court’s ruling that this supply chain risk designation was unlawful,” an Anthropic spokesperson said.
The ruling also bars federal agencies from enforcing President Donald Trump’s order to stop using Anthropic’s tools. That order had tied the company’s legal fight to the government’s ability to use its AI systems, making the court’s decision reach beyond the designation itself.
Why the fight is not over
The Pentagon’s actions against Anthropic unfolded across February and March. Sanctions were imposed in February, followed by the designation as a supply chain risk in March, and the court made the temporary suspension of those sanctions permanent on April 30, 2026.
Yet Anthropic still has a second lawsuit pending in Washington D.C. over a separate Pentagon supply-chain risk designation. The new ruling resolves one major challenge, but the additional case means the company’s conflict with the Department of Defense continues.
Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, also had an interview date of April 30, 2026, as the ruling arrived. The timing puts the company’s leadership and its legal strategy in the spotlight while Anthropic continues defending its position on restrictions involving Claude.
This decision now establishes a clear boundary in the dispute: the government cannot turn a supply chain risk designation into retaliation for criticism. The Department of Defense may still defend its concerns about military systems, but Judge Lin’s ruling says those concerns cannot erase constitutional protections.
The next stage will center on the separate Washington D.C. lawsuit and the lasting effect of this decision on government use of AI tools. Anthropic has won a major legal barrier against the Pentagon, and the ruling could shape how government agencies handle AI companies that refuse to change their public positions.
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