Federal judge restores White House press access for three outlets

Constitutional question on viewpoint discrimination remains unresolved

A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration on Wednesday to restore White House press credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, granting the three outlets temporary access for 14 days. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly found the outlets were likely denied adequate notice and a meaningful chance to respond before their credentials were revoked.

The order addresses procedural due process rather than the underlying First Amendment question. Rottman, of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the administration could attempt to reimpose restrictions if it follows the procedural steps the court found lacking — and that doing so would not necessarily settle the broader constitutional issue.

“The White House facility doesn’t need to let journalists in,” Rottman told NPR. “But once it does … it cannot exclude journalists or news organizations because it doesn’t like what they report.”

Rottman said the larger dispute would persist even if the White House corrects its process. “Would not necessarily settle the larger constitutional issue,” he said of a follow-on attempt.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — a nonprofit that provides free legal services and advocacy to journalists and news organizations — joined the White House Correspondents’ Association and dozens of news organizations, including NPR, in a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the three outlets.

Rottman drew a distinction between two principles he said both govern White House access. The first: the executive branch has broad discretion over its own facilities, including for legitimate security reasons. The second: once that authority is exercised to admit journalists, it cannot be deployed to penalize coverage the administration dislikes. The distinction, he said, defines what the lawsuit actually contests.

Pressed on whether the access restrictions have achieved their apparent effect, Rottman was direct. “Journalists are resilient,” he said. “They’ll keep doing their jobs. They’ll keep getting the news to the public.”

NPR’s reporting on the ruling included an interview conducted by A Martínez. The digital version of the story was written by Majd Al-Waheidi and edited by Suzanne Nuyen.