Federal Judge Orders White House to Restore Press Access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico After Six-Day Ban
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a TRO ordering the White House to restore press credentials for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, ruling the six-day ban likely violated Fifth Amendment due process. Reporters re-entered by midday after a morning of denied entries, and the judge now weighs a longer preliminary injunction.
What happened
A federal judge on Thursday, September 24, 2026, ordered the White House to restore press credentials for three news organizations whose hard passes were revoked six days earlier, and by midday reporters from those outlets were back on the White House grounds.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a first-term Trump appointee, granted a temporary restraining order in the case Cable News Networks, Inc. v. Trump, directing the government to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" hard-pass credentials for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, according to Vox (https://www.vox.com/the-logoff-newsletter-trump/503750/trump-press-ban-court-ruling-cnn-politico-ms-now). The credentials had been revoked on September 18, 2026, after President Trump announced the ban, writing that the outlets "shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES." He later told reporters, "it's really just cumulative stories of the last two years. You get sick of it," and on Monday accused reporters of "violat[ing] our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown 'sources.'"
Kelly ruled the ban was likely a violation of the outlets' Fifth Amendment due process rights. "Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs' hard passes was motivated by national security concerns," the judge wrote. "Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was 'banning' Plaintiffs from the White House."
Implementation did not go smoothly. Despite the court order, reporters from the three organizations were denied entry Thursday morning. Attorney Ted Boutrous filed an emergency request telling the court, "Defendants have already repeatedly violated the Court's Order," and Kelly ordered the government to respond to the non-compliance notice by 12:30 p.m. ET, per Vox. The White House, in a declaration, said access had been restored as of 9:55 a.m. ET. Around noon, CNN reporter Betsy Klein, whose hard pass was taken Saturday, and MS NOW correspondent Laura Barrón-López walked back onto the White House grounds, and Politico reported one of its reporters was also granted access, according to Everett Post (https://www.everettpost.com/politics/some-banned-media-organizations-return-to-the-white-house-after-judges-order/).
Why it matters
The dispute tests the limits of a president's authority to decide which news organizations may cover the White House, and the ruling turns on procedural grounds rather than the substance of the administration's complaints. Kelly described the stories the administration cited as justification as "routine," said he was "skeptical" of the national security rationale, and noted at a Wednesday hearing that the process established in earlier circuit court cases "wasn't followed here."
Boutrous, representing the outlets, called the White House's "Alice in Wonderland process" for terminating credentials "arbitrary" and "irrational," arguing, "It's not due process when there's been a prejudgment of the issue." The administration's position, laid out by Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik, was that the notice provided in letters sent after 10 p.m. Tuesday, days after the ban took effect, was sufficient, and he suggested the outlets' responses might convince Trump to change his mind.
The gap between the court's order and the reporters' actual re-entry, nearly 11 hours according to Vox, has become a point of contention in its own right, with the judge now weighing whether the government complied in good faith. The case also arrives amid broader questions about the administration's stated rationale: per the media newsletter Status, one of the "unknown sources" the White House complained about was Vice President JD Vance, speaking to reporters on a press call.
The outcome will shape whether the administration can condition White House access on its view of coverage, and whether courts will require a formal process before credentials are pulled. Press freedom advocates view the due process ruling as a check on unilateral exclusion of outlets, while the administration maintains it is responding to inaccurate reporting.
What to watch
The temporary restraining order lasts a maximum of 14 days, and Kelly said he "intends to rule expeditiously" on a longer-lasting preliminary injunction that would extend the restoration of access while the case proceeds. Trump has already promised to appeal if the ruling goes against him, so an appeal filing is a near-term possibility.
The government's response to the non-compliance notice, due by 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday, will indicate whether the court pursues further enforcement measures over the morning's denied entries. Watchers should also track whether the White House maintains restored access for all three outlets' personnel or imposes new conditions, and whether the preliminary injunction briefing sharpens the national security argument that Kelly has so far viewed with skepticism. Any further revocations or expanded bans on other outlets would likely draw parallel legal challenges citing this ruling.