CNN, MS NOW get back into White House after morning standoff over judge’s order

BS BULLETIN:

A federal judge ordered the White House to immediately restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico early Thursday.
Reporters from all three outlets were nevertheless turned away Thursday morning, prompting an emergency court filing.
By around noon, CNN and MS NOW reporters were back on White House grounds as a court deadline for the administration to explain what happened approached.

The White House press-pass showdown took another turn Thursday when reporters who had been ordered back onto the grounds by a federal judge were initially turned away anyway — only to regain access hours later.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order early Thursday requiring the Trump administration to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” White House access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico.

Kelly found the outlets were likely to succeed in showing that their credentials had been revoked without constitutionally adequate due process.

He was also skeptical of the administration’s national-security justification, noting that the record before him did not show that national-security concerns had motivated the original decision to revoke the passes.

But “immediately” turned out to have a complicated morning.

NEW: Attorneys for CNN/MSNOW ask for emergency court hearing, arguing their journalists are still being denied access to White House

Filing: “This morning journalists
from each of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO attempted to enter the White House and were
turned away, and Secret… pic.twitter.com/LN4t0VH4Sz

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 24, 2026

CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein attempted to enter the complex around 6 a.m. and was denied access.

MS NOW White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López later tried her badge at the security entrance.

It flashed red.

Barrón-López said a Secret Service officer then took the credential. A Politico reporter was also turned away and had a press pass confiscated, according to the outlets’ subsequent court filing.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico went straight back to court.

ALERT: Federal judge Tim Kelly orders Trump White House to RESTORE the press passes of CNN, MSNOW and Politico

Judge: “Plaintiffs are also likely to succeed in showing that their hard passes were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process”https://t.co/l2skJChlMN

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 24, 2026

“This morning journalists from each of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO attempted to enter the White House and were turned away,” their attorneys told Kelly.

The outlets requested an immediate hearing and stressed that “time is of the essence,” particularly because CNN was scheduled to participate in television pool coverage during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s White House visit.

Kelly responded by ordering the Trump administration to address the allegations by 12:30 p.m. ET.

Then, shortly before that deadline, the gates opened.

Barrón-López appeared live from the White House North Lawn around noon and announced that her access had been restored.

“I have been restored my access, and I believe that others on our team are being restored their access as well as I speak,” she reported.

CNN also confirmed that Klein had been allowed back onto White House grounds after her unsuccessful attempts earlier in the morning.

That means a remarkably busy few hours went like this: Judge orders reporters back in. Reporters show up. Reporters can’t get in. Reporters go back to the judge. Judge demands an explanation. Reporters get back in.

The temporary restraining order remains in effect for 14 days while the larger lawsuit continues.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico argue that Trump banned them in retaliation for their coverage, violating both First Amendment protections and their Fifth Amendment due-process rights.

The administration has defended the president’s authority over White House access and argued that reporting by the outlets raised national-security concerns.

Kelly has not yet decided those broader constitutional questions. His temporary ruling focused primarily on the lack of due process before the reporters lost their credentials.

MY QUICK TAKE

Well, that escalated and de-escalated quickly.

By lunchtime, CNN and MS NOW were back inside — but only after winning a court order, getting rejected at the gate, filing another emergency motion and having the judge demand an explanation.

Washington has finally invented a press credential that requires a federal judge to activate.