Judge extends block on White House ban of reporters from three news outlets

A federal judge in Washington late Tuesday extended a court order that keeps reporters from three major news outlets inside the White House complex while their lawsuit moves forward. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from enforcing a September ban that stripped hard-pass credentials from journalists at the named organizations.

What the order does

Kelly's ruling replaces an earlier temporary restraining order and has no set end date. It preserves access to the White House grounds for credentialed journalists from the three outlets for the life of the case. The order does not force the administration to let those reporters into the Oval Office or onto Air Force One where officials have already limited access in recent weeks.

Court papers say the September action affected about 78 journalists who held hard passes after prior screening. The outlets sued on Sept. 21 arguing the ban punished their coverage and denied them notice or a chance to respond.

Why the judge sided with the press

In a 26-page opinion Kelly found the outlets were likely to win on First Amendment claims of retaliation and viewpoint discrimination and on a Fifth Amendment due-process claim. He wrote that the president's own public comments suggested the hard-pass revocations were meant to change how the outlets covered him.

The White House had argued that national security and professionalism concerns justified the ban. Kelly said the government failed to show those reasons drove the initial decision. He noted that national security language appeared only after the passes were already pulled and that many of the flagged stories were written by reporters who never held White House hard passes.

A fight that is not over

Kelly a Trump appointee had already restored access once with a short-term order after Secret Service officers turned reporters away and confiscated credentials the day after the ban was announced. The president has said he expects to appeal if the courts keep blocking the ban.

The case now continues on the merits. For now the three outlets stay on the White House campus under Kelly's longer injunction while the larger fight over press access plays out.