A US federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore White House access to journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico after President Donald Trump barred the three news organisations from the premises.
According to CNN, US District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled early Thursday that the reporters’ press credentials were revoked without “constitutionally adequate due process.”
Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order requiring the administration to reinstate the journalists’ access while the court considers the case.
The three news organisations sued the administration after Trump announced the ban, arguing that the decision violated the First Amendment and their right to due process.
The administration had argued that the outlets’ reporting raised national security concerns and that Trump had the authority to determine who could access the White House.
However, Kelly said the government had provided insufficient evidence to support its national security argument.
“Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly wrote.
He noted that when Trump announced the ban, the president focused on what he described as the lack of truthfulness and negative nature of the outlets’ reporting rather than national security concerns.
Kelly also said the reporters were not given notice or an opportunity to challenge the decision before their press passes were revoked.
“The ‘general rule’ is that ‘individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the Government deprives them’ of a constitutionally protected interest,” he wrote.
The judge further said the administration had not identified clear standards that the outlets violated before their credentials were withdrawn.
Kelly also questioned some of the reports cited by the administration to justify the restrictions, saying some amounted to routine reporting.
He cited a CNN report about plans to rebuild a bunker under the White House East Wing, noting that it was published months before the reporter’s press pass was renewed.
“None of Defendants’ arguments convince the Court that Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on their due process claim,” Kelly said.
He added that the outlets had demonstrated that they could suffer “irreparable harm” without the temporary order and that the public interest supported restoring their access.
The judge said the order could not be immediately appealed and directed the parties to continue presenting arguments and evidence over the next two weeks.
The case followed Trump’s announcement on Friday that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing them of publishing “FAKE NEWS!”
During a hearing on Wednesday, an attorney for the news organisations, Ted Boutrous, argued that the national security justification emerged only after the lawsuit was filed.
Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik, however, maintained that the outlets’ reporting had endangered national security and that Trump had the authority to determine access to the White House.
Boutrous welcomed Kelly’s ruling, saying it protected freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law.
The ruling comes after Kelly presided over a similar case in 2018 involving Trump’s decision to remove then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House access.
