Judge Orders White House to Restore Press Access
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo: President Donald Trump addresses journalists in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Jan. 20, 2026. A federal judge temporarily ordered the White House to restore press access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Sept. 24. Official White House photo by Daniel Torok.
Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico regained access to the White House on Thursday, but only after several hours of confusion following a federal judge's order requiring the administration to immediately restore their press credentials.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order early Thursday morning blocking the White House from enforcing its ban against the three news organizations for 14 days.
Kelly ordered officials to return, reinstate and restore the affected journalists' White House credentials while the lawsuit challenging the ban moves forward.
The judge found that the news organizations had shown a high likelihood of succeeding on their claim that the credentials were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process.
But the ruling did not immediately get the reporters back through the gates.
CNN White House correspondent Betsy Klein said she attempted to enter the White House grounds shortly after 6 a.m. and was told her credentials were not approved for entry.
A CNN photojournalist was also denied access and had his credential taken, according to CNN.
MS NOW reporter Laura Barrón López said she and a producer were denied entry as well.
Politico said one of its reporters was turned away and had a press credential confiscated.
The three news organizations returned to court Thursday morning and requested an emergency hearing, telling Kelly that the administration had not complied with his order.
At the time, however, it was not clear whether the continued denials represented deliberate refusal to follow the ruling or delays in restoring the reporters' credentials in White House and Secret Service access systems.
Klein acknowledged on CNN that the situation was fluid and said it could have been a processing delay.
Barrón López similarly said it was unclear whether the problem reflected defiance of the court order or a problem with the access system.
The White House later said it had begun the process of reinstating the credentials early Thursday morning.
White House press operations director Micah Stopperich said in a court filing that the process of restoring access had begun shortly after 7 a.m. and that replacement badges were delivered to an entry gate later in the morning.
By around noon, reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were again entering the White House grounds.
The dispute began after President Donald Trump announced Sept. 18 that journalists from the three organizations would be barred from the White House.
Trump criticized their coverage and accused the organizations of publishing false information. The administration later argued in court that reporting by the outlets raised national security concerns.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the administration on Sept. 21.
The organizations argued that excluding their journalists because of their reporting violated First Amendment protections and that revoking established White House credentials without adequate procedures violated their Fifth Amendment due process rights.
Kelly focused heavily on the due process issue in granting temporary relief.
He cited longstanding federal court precedent requiring the government to provide notice and an opportunity to respond before taking away an established White House press credential.
Kelly also questioned the administration's national security justification.
The judge wrote that the record before him lacked factual support showing that revoking the credentials would protect national security or that temporarily restoring them would create a national security threat.
He also noted that when Trump originally announced the ban, the president focused on what he described as false and negative reporting rather than national security.
The ruling does not resolve the lawsuit.
Kelly's order temporarily blocks enforcement of the ban for 14 days while the case continues.
The White House can continue defending its authority to restrict access, and the news organizations can continue pursuing their constitutional claims.
For several hours Thursday morning, however, the dispute shifted from whether the reporters should be allowed into the White House to whether a federal court order restoring their credentials had actually been implemented.
By midday, that immediate dispute was resolved when journalists from all three organizations regained entry.
(Source: OAF Nation)
