Judge Orders White House to Restore CNN, MS NOW and Politico Access/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ A federal judge ordered the White House to immediately restore press credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico for at least 14 days. The judge found that the outlets were likely to prove their passes had been revoked without due process and questioned the administration’s national-security justification. Reporters from all three organizations said they remained unable to enter the White House several hours after the ruling.
Quick Look
- Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order.
- The White House was told to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the outlets’ credentials.
- CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters said they were still blocked hours later.
- The judge found the outlets were likely to succeed on their procedural due-process claim.
- Kelly said the White House’s credential-revocation standards were too vague.
- He found no record showing that national security originally motivated the bans.
- The administration argued that White House access is a privilege rather than a right.
- Major television networks suspended participation in the presidential press pool.
- The ruling did not decide the lawsuit’s ultimate First Amendment claims.
- The White House did not immediately say whether it would comply or challenge the order.
NEW YORK — A federal judge ordered the White House to restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, temporarily blocking President Donald Trump’s decision to ban the three news organizations.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order early Thursday requiring administration officials to restore the organizations’ White House press credentials immediately.
The order is scheduled to remain effective for 14 days while the court conducts a more detailed review. Temporary restraining orders generally preserve existing conditions and prevent immediate harm while litigation continues.
Several hours after the decision, however, reporters from all three organizations said they were still being denied entry to the White House.
The administration did not immediately respond to questions about whether it would comply with the ruling, appeal it or allow the affected journalists to return.
Court Finds Outlets Likely to Prevail on Due Process
Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The judge found that the news organizations had satisfied the demanding legal requirements for emergency relief. He said they were likely to succeed in proving that the administration revoked their press passes without providing adequate procedural protections.
“This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” Kelly wrote.
The decision focused principally on procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment. The outlets’ wider lawsuit also argues that the ban violated the First Amendment by punishing them for the content and viewpoint of their reporting.
The temporary order does not represent a final judgment on those constitutional arguments. It restores access while the lawsuit proceeds and the court considers whether longer-lasting relief is warranted.
Judge Says White House Standards Were Too Vague
Kelly said the government must establish clear standards defining the conduct that could lead to a journalist losing White House access.
He found that the administration’s descriptions of unacceptable reporting did not meet that requirement.
The standard presented in letters sent to the three organizations was “so vague it hardly does the trick,” Kelly wrote.
Kelly was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in 2017. In 2018, he also ordered the restoration of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House credential after the first Trump administration revoked it.
The earlier case similarly involved whether the White House had provided proper notice and an adequate opportunity for a journalist to respond before taking away access.
Trump Initially Cited “Fake News”
Trump first announced the bans the previous Friday, attacking what he called “fake news” and criticizing coverage he considered untruthful or negative.
The White House later asserted that reporting by the three organizations created national-security risks.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico responded with a joint lawsuit, arguing that the government had engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by targeting selected organizations because of what they published.
The lawsuit characterized the ban as a direct attack on press freedom and asked the court to restore the journalists’ credentials immediately.
Kelly Rejects National-Security Explanation
The judge expressed skepticism about the administration’s assertion that it revoked the passes to protect national security.
“Nothing in the record … suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly wrote.
He noted that Trump did not initially mention national security when announcing the ban. Instead, the president focused on what he described as inaccurate and negative coverage.
Kelly later wrote: “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting.”
The judge also found little evidence that temporarily restoring access would create a national-security danger.
Outlets’ Attorney Calls Ruling a Victory
The ruling followed an emergency hearing Wednesday during which lawyers debated whether the White House could selectively revoke journalists’ credentials and whether the reporting at issue posed a genuine security threat.
“This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law,” Theodore Boutrous Jr., an attorney representing the outlets, said in an emailed statement. “We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action.”
During the hearing, Boutrous argued that the organizations were suffering irreparable harm at a particularly important moment for national and international news.
“We’re at war. We have world leaders coming to Washington,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Washington for a state visit and talks with Trump as the emergency press-access dispute unfolded.
Justice Department Defends Presidential Authority
Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that the president has broad authority to determine who may enter the White House complex.
“Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” Velchik said.
The administration maintained that Trump was not engaging in viewpoint discrimination because he had criticized other organizations without banning them. Velchik noted, for example, that Trump had called ABC “the worst.”
“The president should be able to take immediate action to protect national security,” Velchik added.
Boutrous challenged the timing of that defense.
“Suddenly it’s a national security case,” he said, arguing that the security explanation appeared only after the outlets filed their lawsuit.
Trump “keeps proving our point,” Boutrous said, referring to the president’s repeated statements connecting the ban to coverage he considered negative.
Administration Identifies Disputed Reports
In a court filing, government attorneys described letters sent to the three organizations containing “a non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents, including those that have threatened national security and spread falsehoods.”
The administration cited CNN’s reporting about “‘top-secret’ construction details related to the East Wing bunker.”
It objected to MS NOW reporting “on an alleged leak investigation.”
The White House also cited Politico’s publication of “a document detailing funding for the White House ballroom containing intricate descriptions of how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements.”
Politico’s letter included another complaint involving a June report quoting a “senior administration official … granted anonymity” who predicted whether a preliminary agreement would end the conflict with Iran.
That report apparently arose from a background briefing organized by the White House itself. During that briefing, an administration official spoke anonymously under conditions established by the administration. Multiple news organizations subsequently reported the comments.
Networks Suspend Trump Pool Coverage
The ban prompted a coordinated response from other media organizations.
The television press pool, comprising five major networks including CNN, suspended coverage of Trump’s pool events until further notice. The rotating arrangement allows participating outlets to gather footage and share it with the wider press corps when space is limited.
Kelly’s ruling addressed the credentials held by CNN, MS NOW and Politico but did not resolve the separate television-pool dispute.
The networks continued withholding coverage after Wednesday’s court hearing.
When Trump formally welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews, journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present but did not record video.
Crews from NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, One America News and LindellTV were also present, according to labels displayed on their equipment.
Other News Organizations Support Lawsuit
Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief urging Kelly to restore the outlets’ access.
The dispute is the latest legal confrontation over whether an administration may restrict a journalist’s access because it objects to the organization’s coverage.
Federal precedent recognizes that the White House may establish legitimate security and conduct rules. Once it creates a credentialing system, however, courts have held that it must use clear standards and provide notice and an opportunity to respond before withdrawing an established press pass.
The immediate question following Kelly’s ruling was whether the White House would implement his order. As of several hours after it was issued, the three organizations said their reporters were still outside.
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