A federal judge has ordered the White House to immediately restore press credentials for reporters at CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, ruling the ban likely violated constitutional due process rights.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly handed down the ruling in the early hours of Thursday morning, following an emergency hearing on the outlets’ joint lawsuit.
Kelly’s ruling is set to last for two weeks, providing a temporary but immediate reprieve for the three news organizations locked out of the White House grounds.
The outlets were denied access to the White House on Saturday after Trump announced Friday that he would ban all three “effective immediately,” citing what he called “Fake News” coverage.
The administration sent letters to the affected outlets citing national security concerns, but those letters were not delivered until after access had already been revoked.
“Defendants do not dispute that Plaintiffs did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked,” wrote Kelly, who is himself a Trump appointee.
Kelly applied a rationale similar to his own 2018 ruling, when then-CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta had his hard pass revoked under comparable circumstances.
In a joint statement, the three outlets said they filed the lawsuit to “protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”
The Department of Justice pushed back, with DOJ attorney Michael Velchik arguing that “access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” and that the president may exclude anyone from the Oval Office.
Trump, across multiple Truth Social posts, referred to Kelly as “totally disloyal” and predicted the judge would “probably” rule against him.
White House Correspondents Association President Jacqui Heinrich released a statement condemning Saturday’s incidents, saying the action “violates the First Amendment” and calling on the administration to restore access.
The case raises significant questions about the boundaries of executive authority over press access and the constitutional protections afforded to credentialed journalists covering the White House.
