The Justice Department urged a federal judge to keep CNN, Politico and MS NOW reporters off White House grounds, arguing that President Donald Trump may restrict their access over national security concerns as the outlets fight to regain their press credentials.
Government lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday to reject the outlets’ request for a temporary restraining order. “Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” DOJ lawyers wrote, saying Trump may limit access to protect sensitive information and enforce standards of professionalism and decorum.
The dispute reaches beyond access to limited presidential events. Trump’s order keeps credentialed journalists from the three organizations off White House grounds altogether, while DOJ argues that the president’s authority over restricted areas, including the Oval Office, supports the broader exclusion.
The restrictions took effect September 19, when reporters from all three organizations were turned away. Their White House hard passes were deactivated or confiscated.
The outlets sued Monday, accusing the administration of retaliating against them over coverage Trump disliked. They allege viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment and say the government violated the Fifth Amendment by stripping their credentials before giving them notice or a chance to respond.
White House letters dated September 22 provided a more detailed explanation for the exclusions. Officials accused the organizations of publishing sensitive or classified information, spreading what the administration called false reporting on national security issues and failing to meet professional standards expected of journalists with access to the White House.
The letters cited coverage involving the Iran war, U.S. weapons supplies, Trump’s White House ballroom project and other national security issues. DOJ says publishing sensitive or classified material can trigger investigations into possible leaks and create risks the president may consider when deciding who receives White House access.
The formal notices arrived four days after Trump first announced the exclusions. The administration then gave CNN, Politico and MS NOW until Friday at 5 p.m. to contest its findings in writing.
DOJ argues that the White House’s written explanation and opportunity to respond satisfy due process. The news organizations say their reporters had already lost access before receiving notice or a chance to contest the decision, placing a decades-old White House press case at the center of the dispute.
In Sherrill v. Knight, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in 1977 that the White House may control press access, but credentials made available to bona fide journalists cannot be denied arbitrarily. The court required officials to provide the factual basis for a denial, allow the journalist to respond, and issue a written decision.
The Justice Department is now directly challenging that precedent. Its filing argues that Sherrill was wrongly decided and should be overruled. DOJ maintains that Trump’s restrictions would satisfy the ruling anyway because national security and standards for White House journalists provide compelling reasons for denying access.
The government is relying on a more recent fight involving The Associated Press as well. A federal appeals court in 2025 allowed Trump to restrict AP journalists from limited presidential spaces, including the Oval Office, while litigation continued.
That ruling involved areas where only a small group of reporters can accompany the president. The appeals court majority distinguished those restricted settings from press areas generally open to credentialed journalists.
CNN, Politico and MS NOW say their case goes further because their reporters have been kept off the White House grounds altogether, rather than excluded only from particular events or limited presidential spaces.
Trump criticized Kelly in a Truth Social post ahead of Wednesday’s hearing. Kelly, whom Trump appointed to the federal bench, previously ruled against the Trump administration in a White House press credential dispute. In 2018, he ordered the administration to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass after finding that the White House had failed to provide adequate due process before revoking it.
Kelly is scheduled to hear arguments at 3:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on the outlets’ request for a temporary restraining order. His ruling will determine whether CNN, Politico, and MS NOW regain White House access while their lawsuit moves forward.
