This article is from: srnnews.com
WASHINGTON (SRN NEWS) – A federal judge has declined to immediately block the Trump administration’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House grounds, leaving the media restrictions in place for now.
Judge Timothy J. Kelly heard arguments Wednesday in Washington but did not issue an immediate ruling. Instead, he said he would decide the case “as soon as possible.” That means the three outlets remain excluded from the White House campus while the legal battle continues.
The dispute began last Friday, when President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW would no longer be permitted inside the White House. The president cited their reporting as the reason for the decision.
Journalists from the three organizations were denied access to White House grounds on Saturday. By Monday, the outlets had filed a lawsuit arguing that the administration violated their First Amendment rights by punishing them for unfavorable coverage.
The lawsuit quickly prompted a broader response from the news industry. Other media companies pulled back from routine presidential coverage in a show of solidarity. The television press pool—made up of five networks that share responsibility for recording and distributing coverage of the president—suspended its work beginning Monday.
The New York Times and The Washington Post also said they would limit their use of photographs taken at presidential events. NPR reportedly stopped using audio from White House appearances as part of the protest.
But despite expectations from some critics of the administration that a federal judge would quickly halt the policy, Judge Kelly allowed the restrictions to remain in effect while he considers the arguments.
The judge did appear skeptical of the administration’s position during the hearing. Theodore Boutrous, an attorney representing the media organizations, argued that President Trump’s own public statements demonstrate that the outlets were denied access because of their reporting. Boutrous described the president as the lawsuit’s “lead witness,” saying that Trump’s repeated comments reinforce the media organizations’ constitutional claims.
The administration offered a different interpretation. Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that the outlets were relying on an “absurd interpretation of the First Amendment.” He said the news organizations appeared to believe they could knowingly publish classified information and still expect privileged access to the White House complex.
Velchik emphasized that access to the White House is a privilege, not an automatic right. The administration’s position is that the president and his staff have authority to manage access to the complex and determine which outlets receive space in a limited press environment.
The case now heads into a potentially significant constitutional fight over the boundaries between presidential authority, press access, and the First Amendment.
For the moment, the White House policy remains intact. The networks and newspapers supporting the boycott have not backed down, and the judge’s eventual decision could determine whether the administration’s restrictions survive—or whether the barred outlets return to the campus.
Until then, the expected immediate court victory for the media organizations has not arrived.
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