White House Press Ban Costs Outlets Daily Access to President

Three major news organizations filed an amended complaint on Wednesday, asking U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to make his recent ruling permanent. CNN, MSNOW, and Politico argue that the White House is continuing to block their reporters from covering President Donald Trump in key locations, including the Oval Office and Air Force One, despite previous court orders.

The legal dispute centers on the rotating press pool, a group of journalists who accompany the president on official trips and events. The three outlets claim they have been excluded from this pool since early in the administration. They assert that this exclusion is a form of retaliation for reporting that the president dislikes, a practice they define as unlawful viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment.

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the attorney representing the news outlets, stated in a filing that the administration is defying judicial orders. He noted that the White House continues to block these specific reporters from the locations where the president most frequently interacts with the press. The filing warns that other news organizations now face the risk of similar punishment if their coverage is deemed insufficiently favorable.

Judge Kelly issued a preliminary ruling roughly two weeks ago, finding that the outlets were likely to succeed in their lawsuit. In that decision, the judge rejected the White House argument that the ban was necessary for national security or policy goals. Instead, he cited Trump's stated belief that the outlets' reporting was inaccurate and biased. Kelly wrote that the ban constituted unlawful viewpoint discrimination, where the government acts against speech it does not like.

The judge also upheld the outlets' argument that the ban violated their Fifth Amendment right to due process. This ruling expanded on an earlier temporary order that had found the administration in violation of that right. The amended filing asks the court to solidify these findings, ensuring that the reporters can return to the pool without further administrative obstruction.

The White House had not responded to the amended lawsuit as of Thursday morning. The three outlets maintain that their exclusion deprives the public of current and complete information about the government. They seek a permanent injunction that would compel the administration to allow their reporters full access to the president's daily schedule.

The next step in the case is for the White House legal team to file a response to the amended complaint. The parties will then brief the court on whether the preliminary findings should become a permanent judgment. No hearing date has been set for this new phase of litigation.