Judge Orders White House to Restore Access to News Outlets

A federal judge early Thursday temporarily blocked President Trump's move to ban three news outlets from the White House grounds and said CNN, MS NOW, and Politico must have their access restored. US District Judge Timothy Kelly, who heard arguments Wednesday and seemed skeptical of the ban, told the White House to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" the press credentials of reporters from the outlets, the New York Times reports. He issued a temporary restraining order that will be in effect for 14 days. Such orders are typically designed to preserve the status quo pending a closer review of the case by the court, reports the AP.

In an order posted shortly after midnight, Kelly said the media outlets had met the legal thresholds needed to obtain a temporary restraining order, which include likelihoods of succeeding on the merits of the case and of suffering irreparable harm without an order. "This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it," he wrote. He found that Trump's order was likely unconstitutional, the Times reports. Kelly, nominated by Trump in 2017, ordered a CNN journalist's access restored in a similar case in 2018.

During the hearing, Kelly questioned whether the administration had met its legal responsibilities and provided the outlets adequate due process before banning them. The rulings in two prior cases over press access, including one that went to the US Supreme Court, made it clear that journalists were entitled to an opportunity to be heard before they have their press passes revoked.

• Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that the rulings in the earlier cases were wrong. The judge noted that his decision would be guided by prior rulings in comparable First Amendment cases, even if the government disagrees with them. "This Court is bound by DC Circuit precedent, full stop," he wrote.
• The administration argued that the outlets were banned for national security reasons. Kelly, however, said that the stories the administration singled out as examples were "routine" and that he doubted national security was the real reason for the ban, the Hill reports. "Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was 'banning' Plaintiffs from the White House—instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs' reporting," the judge wrote.