Judge Pauses Trump's Ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico at the White House
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued a temporary restraining order on Sept. 24, 2026, blocking President Donald Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from covering the White House. The ruling restores, for now, credentialed access the administration had revoked. Al Jazeera
Kelly ordered the administration to immediately return, reinstate and restore the three outlets' access to the White House. The order lasts 14 days pending further proceedings. A temporary restraining order is a short-term pause, not a final ruling.
Kelly found the outlets were likely to prevail in their legal challenge, including on due-process grounds. Due process means fair procedures must be followed before access is taken away. He found they had been stripped of credentials without due process and would likely suffer irreparable harm without temporary relief. He also found the public interest weighed in favor of blocking the ban given the importance of the free press. He rejected the administration's claim that the exclusion was needed to protect national security, finding that argument lacked factual support.
Kelly was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2017 during Trump's first term.
The ban began with Trump's announcement that he had barred CNN, Politico and MS NOW from covering the White House, citing their reporting of unspecified fake news. The three organizations jointly sued to overturn the decision, arguing it violated their free speech and due process rights. Theodore Boutrous is representing the outlets in the challenge.
The case moved on an expedited track. Kelly had scheduled an emergency hearing for Wednesday to consider the request for temporary relief. The New York Times A federal judge had initially delayed ruling on whether to temporarily lift the ban and was expected to rule soon. BBC
The administration argues the exclusion does not violate First Amendment protections on press freedom. In a filing, the U.S. Department of Justice said "Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right." NBC News Press groups and First Amendment experts condemned the ban and called for the journalists' access to be restored. After journalists were denied entry, the White House workspaces assigned to the banned outlets sat empty. NBC News
The broader context here is that the order turns less on a final determination of press access than on procedure, harm and the balance of interests over the next two weeks. That leaves two questions for the next round. The first is whether the government can supply a factual record for a security rationale the court found unsupported. The second is how the court separates the due-process claim, where Kelly signaled likely success, from the wider First Amendment dispute over credentialing discretion and the administration's privilege framing. The answers will shape access well beyond the 14-day window.
