WASHINGTON, United States – A United States federal judge has issued an emergency order temporarily blocking President Donald Trump’s executive directive barring correspondents from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House complex, ruling early Thursday morning that the administration must immediately reinstate press credentials to all three news organizations, judicial correspondents monitored in Washington on Thursday, September 24, 2026.
The decision by United States District Judge Timothy J. Kelly delivers an immediate legal setback to the White House in an intensifying confrontation between the executive branch and national news outlets over constitutional press protections and viewpoint discrimination.
Okay News reports that in an order granting a 14-day temporary restraining order, Judge Kelly ruled that the media organizations had satisfied the strict legal standard required for emergency injunctive relief, establishing a high probability of succeeding on their claims that the administration revoked their credentials without statutory Fifth Amendment due process protections.
“This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” Judge Kelly wrote in his memorandum opinion, dismissing retroactive correspondence sent by White House press officials attempting to justify the exclusion by citing unfavorable coverage as “so vague it hardly does the trick.”
The judge, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2017 and notably issued an injunction ordering the restoration of former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s credentials during a similar dispute in 2018, heard urgent oral arguments on Wednesday afternoon before issuing the ruling before dawn on Thursday.
During the emergency hearing, the court rejected contentions by Justice Department attorneys that prior appellate decisions curbing executive discretion over White House press access were flawed, with Judge Kelly stating unequivocally that the court is bound by District of Columbia Circuit legal precedent, full stop.
The conflict erupted after President Trump announced the ban on Friday, characterizing the three outlets as purveyors of dishonest journalism and asserting that hostile media reporting posed a danger to the nation, an action that prompted the outlets to file an expedited joint lawsuit alleging blatant violations of the First Amendment.
Arguing before the court on Wednesday, lead counsel for the news organizations, Theodore Boutrous Jr., stressed that barring major news bureaus from the White House during a period of consequential global diplomacy and active military conflict inflicted immediate, irreparable harm on public information.
“We’re at war,” Boutrous argued before the bench. “We have world leaders coming to Washington. Access cannot be conditioned on whether the President approves of the reporting.”
Defending the executive directive, Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that access to the executive mansion is a presidential privilege rather than a constitutional right, maintaining that the Commander-in-Chief retains inherent constitutional authority to determine who enters the premises and must be able to act swiftly to protect national security interests.
Velchik denied that the administration engaged in viewpoint discrimination, pointing out that President Trump frequently directs sharper public rhetoric at other networks without revoking their access, an argument Boutrous countered by asserting that the administration only introduced national security justifications after the lawsuit was formally instituted.
The 14-day temporary restraining order preserves access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico to cover the White House, including bilateral meetings and official ceremonies during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit, while the court schedules further proceedings on the outlets’ application for a preliminary injunction.
