DOJ fights longer press-ban injunction; Oct. 8 hearing set
The Justice Department told a federal judge Friday that President Trump may ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House grounds for failing “minimum requirements of professionalism.” A temporary restraining order still restores hard passes. A preliminary-injunction hearing is set for Oct. 8.
The Justice Department argued Friday that President Donald Trump can lawfully keep CNN, MS NOW, and Politico off White House grounds if he finds they failed “minimum requirements of professionalism,” Deadline reported. Last month U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted the outlets a temporary restraining order restoring dozens of hard passes. The outlets now seek a longer preliminary injunction, saying the ban violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
Kelly has said he is bound by the 1977 D.C. Circuit ruling in Sherrill v. Knight, which holds that press access cannot be denied arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons. DOJ told the court Sherrill still allows a “compelling interest” in requiring journalists to identify sources, pursue factual accuracy, offer the White House comment, and avoid interfering with daily operations — including publishing classified material. Theodore Boutrous Jr., counsel for the outlets, argued Trump’s own statements show the ban aims to coerce friendlier coverage and chill critical reporting, and that retaliation continued even after the TRO.
Hard-pass access is not the whole fight. First Amendment Watch and the Associated Press documented that CNN was left off Air Force One for Trump’s Saturday college-football trip to Tennessee even after the TRO — with Real America’s Voice taking a network-pool seat CNN had been scheduled to fill. Kelly’s order addressed White House grounds credentials, not AF1 pool slots. WKOW and other syndicates carried the DOJ filing overnight. The next court date is Thursday, Oct. 8, on the preliminary injunction.
What we know:
DOJ filed Friday opposing a longer injunction; hard passes remain restored under the TRO; Oct. 8 hearing is set; AF1 pool exclusion of CNN has continued separately.
What we don’t:
Whether Kelly will extend injunctive relief, how far pool travel falls under the order, or whether the White House will reverse AF1 exclusions before the hearing.
Where outlets agree Deadline, WKOW, and First Amendment Watch/AP agree DOJ is fighting a longer injunction while the TRO restored hard passes and AF1 pool access remains a separate fight.
Where they differ DOJ frames a professionalism and national-security standard; the outlets and Boutrous call the ban viewpoint retaliation meant to chill coverage.