Judge Orders White House to Temporarily Restore Press Passes for Three Outlets

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico for 14 days. NPR

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly for the District of Columbia issued the temporary restraining order shortly after midnight Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. The order tells White House representatives to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" press credentials for reporters from the three outlets.

The credentials are White House hard passes, the long-term passes for regular daily coverage. The three organizations said the passes were revoked Saturday, after the outlets were barred from White House events last week. They filed a joint lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Monday challenging the ban. CNN

Kelly held an emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon on the request to lift the ban. He wrote the outlets were likely to show their passes were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process. That means fair notice and a chance to respond before an existing pass is taken away.

Kelly was nominated to the District of Columbia bench by Trump in 2017. He is now hearing a challenge to credentialing decisions made by the same administration.

For lawyers who follow credentialing, the distinction Kelly drew is important. The temporary order centers on process around the revoked hard passes. It does not issue a final ruling on the broader First Amendment claim over access to White House events.

The broader context here is procedural. A temporary restraining order works like a pause button. It keeps the prior setup in place for a short time while the court receives more briefing and argument. The 14-day window gives both sides time to develop the record on how the ban and revocations were decided, communicated and applied. It does not decide liability or set permanent access terms.

Looking at daily coverage, the practical effect is a return to normal staffing for now. Hard passes control movement in the building, pool eligibility, filing logistics and staffing. Without them, outlets must find workarounds to cover the building. With them reinstated, even temporarily, assignment desks can return to normal rotation.

The sequence here could shape future disputes. The Saturday revocations followed last week's event ban, then Monday's joint suit and Wednesday's hearing. Courts often schedule fast hearings and short-term orders when access cuts land close to news cycles. The record of notice, standards and opportunity to respond will likely stay central as the case moves past this stage.