President Donald Trump’s prohibition against CNN, MS NOW, and Politico faced a significant challenge on Thursday. A federal judge has mandated that the administration must restore White House access to these news organizations.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order, instructing White House officials to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the press credentials of these outlets while their legal dispute unfolds. This order will remain in place for 14 days.
In his ruling, Kelly noted that the outlets appeared likely to prevail in their argument that their White House “hard passes were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process.”
Kelly did acknowledge that, while the standards for such an order are stringent, the plaintiffs had met that challenge.
He also dismissed, for the moment, the administration’s claims about national security concerns, indicating that the evidence presented did not credibly support the notion that revoking press passes safeguarded national security, nor did it suggest that reinstating them would pose a risk.
Last week, Trump announced the ban on social media, stating that these three outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES.”
As a result, reporters from the three organizations were blocked from entering the White House, with their press credentials being either deactivated or taken away.
The media outlets, along with three individual reporters, have since sued the administration, claiming that the revocation of their press credentials breached their First Amendment right to free speech and their Fifth Amendment right to due process.
Lawyers for the Justice Department have contended that access to the White House is a privilege rather than a right and defended the president’s powers regarding granting or denying access.
After Trump’s announcement, members of the White House television pool, including FOX News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and NBC News, opted to suspend their pooled coverage of the president.
This situation, well, it’s still developing, so there may be more updates to come.
