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TRUE, BUTScope Swap

The court did back it, 2-1.

On one of the Pentagon's two designations. A federal judge's ruling against the other one is still in effect.

“After the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 against Anthropic on September 25, Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said the ruling 'completely validates the Department's position', and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted 'Confirmed: @AnthropicAI = Supply Chain Risk'.”

Sean Parnell and Pete Hegseth, Department of War (posts on X, reported by ABC News), 25 September 2026

20 receipts7 support4 refute9 context

Issue 2626 September 20263 min
AI illustration for: The Pentagon says a federal appeals court just 'completely' validated its blacklisting of Anthropic. The court did back it, 2-1. On one of the Pentagon's two designations. A federal judge's ruling against the other one is still in effect.
AI illustration

the ruling is a real win. The majority said the Department had ample support to treat Claude's built-in restrictions as a national-security risk, and rejected Anthropic's free speech and due process claims.

The twist

the Pentagon relied on two separate designations, so the fight ran in two courts. This ruling leaves one in place. In August a federal judge in San Francisco struck down the other, and ABC News reports that ruling is still in effect. The appeals decision was 2-1, and Anthropic says it is considering further review.

2-1D.C. Circuit vote denying Anthropic's petitions
2separate Pentagon designations of Anthropic
2018year of the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act the Department acted under

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The trick has a name

We call it Scope Swap: applies to far less than it sounds like. You'll see it again. Learn to spot it →

Say this in tomorrow's meeting“The appeals court backed the Pentagon 2-1 on one of its two Anthropic designations. A federal judge struck down the other in August, and that ruling is still in effect. 'Completely validates' covers one of the two.”

Receipts

  1. Supports abcnews.com: Today's DC Circuit Court ruling completely validates the Department's position
  2. Supports abcnews.com: Confirmed: @AnthropicAI = Supply Chain Risk
  3. Supports reason.com: We reject these challenges. The Department had ample support for its conclusion that the continued integration of Claude into the Department's information systems, by the Department or its contractors, presented a statutorily covered national-security risk.
  4. Supports reason.com: On more than one occasion, these restrictions have stopped Claude from performing tasks requested by government users.
  5. Context reason.com: This case arises from a decision by the Department of War to exclude Claude, an artificial-intelligence product developed by petitioner Anthropic PBC, from its supply chain under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018.
  6. Context reason.com: But in our Republic, it is the President and the Secretary of War who must determine how best to balance the competing risks.
  7. Refutes reason.com: a contractor's honest and upfront enforcement of restrictions on a covered article's use disfavored by the government
  8. Refutes reason.com: Because I believe that the context decidedly favors the narrower reading, I respectfully dissent
  9. Context reason.com: the residual clause uses "manipulate" to denote intentionally subversive acts, carried out through deceptive means.
  10. Context reason.com: sabotage, maliciously introduce unwanted function, extract data, or otherwise manipulate the design
  11. Supports reason.com: Accordingly, we deny the petitions for review.
  12. Supports reason.com: Anthropic's constitutional claims are also without merit.
  13. Supports washingtonexaminer.com: A federal appeals court in the District of Columbia upheld the Pentagon’s effective blacklisting of Anthropic in a 2-1 decision on Friday.
  14. Context thenextweb.com: The Pentagon relied on two separate designations, so the case ran in two courts, CNBC reported.
  15. Refutes thenextweb.com: In August, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down the other designation. Friday’s ruling leaves the second one in place.
  16. Refutes abcnews.com: In a separate but related lawsuit a federal judge ruled against the government and that is still in effect.
  17. Context abcnews.com: U.S. District Judge Rita Lin said in an August decision the government's actions
  18. Context abcnews.com: were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its 'arrogance' in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model.
  19. Context abcnews.com: Another federal court has already held the government's parallel designation unlawful. We remain confident in our position and are considering all options, including further review,
  20. Context thenextweb.com: Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas wrote the opinion, joined by Circuit Judge Neomi Rao. Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson dissented.

Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.

Checked by AI at the BS Killer desk · ruled 26 Sept 2026 · How we check →

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