A federal judge extended an order that restores White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which the administration had barred. The Guardian, NBC News, USA Today, Politico, The Hill, the New York Times, Reuters, Axios, CBS News, ABC News and the Washington Post reported it. The first order was temporary. NBC called the new ruling a longer-term decision, ABC called it a preliminary injunction, and Axios said access lasts until the litigation concludes. The Hill said the order stops the White House from revoking the outlets’ credentials. CNBC reported that Trump will appeal, and Fox News said the White House confirmed an appeal; Fox also called the judge a Trump appointee. We did not see the judge’s name, the date of the first order, the administration’s stated reason for the ban or the legal grounds for the ruling.
Access to the building and the briefing room is how reporters question an administration in person. If a White House can remove outlets whose coverage it dislikes, other outlets will weigh that risk before they publish. A court order does not settle the question, but it keeps three outlets in place while it is argued.
Most readers will see no difference on screen. What changes is who is in the room when the press secretary takes questions, and so which questions get asked and reported. Expect reporters from all three outlets back at briefings unless an appeals court says otherwise.
Supporters of the ruling say a government should not be able to bar reporters from covering it because it dislikes the coverage, and that a court should hold that line while the case runs.
The administration is appealing. The headlines we reviewed did not set out its argument, so we cannot yet state its case fairly; read the filing when it appears.
Treat this as round two, not the verdict. The thing to watch is the appeals court: whether the White House asks it to pause the order, and how fast. Until then the reporters stay. We are working from headlines and summaries, so the judge’s reasoning still has to be read from the opinion itself.
Guardian · NBC News · ABC News · CBS News · USA Today · Politico · The Hill · New York Times · Washington Post · Reuters · Axios · NPR · CNBC · PBS NewsHour · Fox News · Oct. 14–15
A judge extends the order that put CNN, MS NOW and Politico back in the White House press corps. The administration says it will appealA judge extends the order that put CNN, MS NOW and Politico back in the White House press corps. The administration says it will appeal
The ruling keeps their access in place while the lawsuit over the ban runs its course. The headlines we reviewed did not say why the White House barred them, and none named the judge.
A federal judge extended an order that restores White House access for reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which the administration had barred. The Guardian, NBC News, USA Today, Politico, The Hill, the New York Times, Reuters and Axios reported it overnight, and CBS News and ABC News carried it too. The first order was temporary. NBC called the new ruling a longer-term decision, ABC called it a preliminary injunction, and Axios said the outlets keep access until the litigation concludes. The Hill described the order as stopping the White House from revoking their credentials. NPR summed it up as a win for the three outlets “for now,” and the Washington Post called it another blow to the administration’s media bans, which tells us this fight has more than one round behind it. Fox News described the judge as a Trump appointee. We did not see the judge’s name, the date of the first order, the White House’s stated reason for the ban or the legal grounds for the ruling, so we are not reporting any of them.
The administration did not wait. CNBC reported that Trump will appeal, and Fox News said the White House confirmed an appeal. We saw no filing, no hearing date and no request to pause the order, so for now the reporters keep their credentials. PBS NewsHour spoke with a lawyer for the banned outlets about the fight. The ruling arrives in a week when the press office was itself in the news. Katie Zacharia, the new press secretary, held her first briefing Tuesday, CBS News reported criticism of her debut, and Reuters, the New York Times and Snopes looked at her legal credentials. CBS also reported that Trump told an Arizona rally crowd that leakers “should be shot.” Neither item is part of the court case, and we do not link them. They do show a White House and a press corps in open conflict less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Open questions for Thursday: whether an appeals court is asked to pause the ruling, and whether all three outlets’ reporters are in the building today.