09/24/2026
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” CNN, MS NOW, and Politco’s access.
Judge Kelly said the outlets had met the legal thresholds to obtain a temporary restraining order, which is in effect for 14 days, and are likely to succeed in showing that their press passes were revoked without due process.
He said the standard of objectionable reporting outlined in letters that the White House sent were “so vague it hardly does the trick.”
He also rejected the White House’s claim that revoking the press passes was necessary for national security, saying officials did little to back up that notion. “Nothing in the record ... suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly wrote. “The Court is skeptical ... that Defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes.”
