White House Defies Court Order on Press Access as Reporters Remain Barred
A federal judge in Washington issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Wednesday requiring the Trump administration to immediately restore White House press credentials for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who was himself nominated by President Trump in 2017, found the administration had likely violated the news outlets’ due process rights when it revoked their reporters’ hard passes over the weekend.
Access Revoked Over the Weekend
The credentials for all three organizations were pulled on Saturday, September 21. White House letters, dated September 22, accused the outlets of “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues.” President Trump had telegraphed the bans publicly, criticizing the coverage as “fake news” and claiming the organizations’ reporting was harmful to the country. The affected reporters lost physical access to the White House complex as a result of the revocation.
Outlets Sue, Court Acts Within Days
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico filed suit against the Trump administration shortly after their passes were revoked, arguing the bans constituted unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and were retaliatory for coverage the president disliked.
Judge Kelly moved quickly, issuing the restraining order just after midnight on Thursday morning. In his ruling, he found the outlets were “likely to succeed in showing that their hard passes were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process.” He added: “This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it.”
Judge Questions the Administration’s Justification
Kelly expressed pointed skepticism about the White House’s national security rationale. He wrote that he was “skeptical…that Defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation” for the ban, noting no evidence demonstrated how the reporting identified by the administration had actually damaged national security. The judge also criticized the standards the administration applied as “so vague” that they failed to provide adequate guidance. The Justice Department had argued that access to the White House is “a privilege, not a right,” a position Kelly did not find sufficient to override the constitutional concerns raised by the three outlets.
A Pattern of Pressure on the Press
The press ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico represents the most aggressive action in a sustained media fight between the Trump White House and several major news organizations.
The administration has also drawn scrutiny for threatening to strip the broadcasting licenses of NBC and ABC, moves that prompted First Amendment objections from media lawyers and journalism advocates. Under Judge Kelly’s temporary restraining order, the administration has 14 days before the order expires, during which time both sides are expected to brief the court on whether a longer-term injunction is warranted.
The Same Judge, a Similar Case
The case carries echoes from Trump’s first term. Kelly is the same federal judge who in 2018 ordered the White House to restore press credentials for CNN’s Jim Acosta after the administration suspended his pass following a contentious briefing room exchange.
That ruling established that the government must follow basic due process before revoking a journalist’s access. Kelly’s decision in the current case follows the same legal framework, finding once again that the administration failed to provide adequate procedural protections before pulling the credentials of the affected reporters.
White House Defies the Court Order
Despite the judicial directive, reporters from Politico and MS NOW were denied entry to the White House complex on Thursday morning, hours after the ruling was issued. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reported that the administration had repeatedly violated the TRO, continuing to bar their journalists from the grounds. The White House offered no immediate comment on the defiance.
Major television networks, which had previously suspended pooled White House video and photo coverage in solidarity with the banned outlets, held their boycott as the standoff continued. The three news organizations subsequently returned to court to seek enforcement of the order.
The temporary restraining order remains in effect for 14 days, during which both sides are expected to brief the court on whether a longer-term injunction is warranted. The broader legal dispute over White House access and First Amendment protections is ongoing, with the administration facing mounting judicial pressure to comply.
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