Washington D.C. -- September 24, 2026: The White House on Thursday morning refused to grant entry to reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, defying a federal court order issued hours earlier that mandated the immediate reinstatement of their press credentials.
In response to the gate turnaways, attorneys representing the three newsrooms filed an urgent motion for an emergency hearing Thursday morning before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, informing the court that administration personnel had "already repeatedly violated the court's order."
The confrontation follows a 14-day temporary restraining order issued overnight by Judge Kelly, which directed White House officials to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" hard-pass credentials revoked following a directive from President Donald Trump.
Despite the clear judicial mandate, correspondents and technical crews arriving at security gates Thursday morning were turned away by Secret Service officers, with at least one Politico reporter having their credentials confiscated on site.
In his overnight ruling, Judge Kelly determined that the media organizations showed a strong likelihood of winning their lawsuit under the Fifth Amendment, concluding that long-standing press passes cannot be stripped without constitutional due process, formal notice, or an opportunity to appeal.
Judge Kelly dismissed the administration’s claim that national security concerns justified the abrupt access ban, highlighting that official letters citing specific coverage were issued only after the newsrooms filed suit.
The court observed that public remarks from President Trump centered squarely on grievances over critical news coverage and claims of "fake news" rather than any documented security threat.
The dispute has triggered a massive display of industry-wide solidarity across national news organizations. Nearly 50 media outlets joined an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit in defense of established press credentials.
In a direct show of coordination, major television networks ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC refused to supply replacement technical crews when CNN was blocked from rotating White House pool coverage, leaving multiple presidential appearances without the standard shared television pool feed.
Justice Department attorneys have maintained that access to the White House complex remains an executive privilege subject to presidential authority rather than a constitutional entitlement.
Judge Kelly, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2017, ruled under identical Fifth Amendment due process standards in 2018 when requiring the administration to restore credentials to then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta