Judge Orders White House to Restore Access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-03287

A federal judge ordered the White House early Thursday to give CNN, MS NOW and Politico their press passes back. Judge Timothy Kelly found the outlets likely to win their claim that the passes were pulled without due process in Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-03287, though the order only lasts 14 days. Trump says he’ll appeal.

Trump Administration Press Access Lawsuit — Key Facts

Field	Detail
Lawsuit Filed	September 21, 2026
Plaintiffs	CNN, MS NOW Cable, LLC, POLITICO LLC and three individual reporters
Defendants	President Donald J. Trump and several White House officials. The order runs against the officials, not the President
Alleged Harm	Revocation of White House “hard pass” credentials and a ban from the White House complex over news coverage
Claims Raised	First Amendment (retaliation and viewpoint discrimination) and Fifth Amendment due process
Who Is Affected	Employees of CNN, MS NOW and Politico who held White House hard passes
Court & Case Number	U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Cable News Network, Inc. et al. v. Donald J. Trump et al., No. 1:26-cv-03287-TJK
Judge	Timothy J. Kelly
Current Stage	Temporary restraining order granted September 24, 2026, in effect for 14 days
Next Step	Expedited briefing on a preliminary injunction. UNVERIFIED — the order says the court will set a schedule but doesn’t give dates
Settlement Status	None
Last Updated	September 24, 2026

What Did the Judge Order the White House to Do for CNN, MS NOW and Politico?

The eight-page order, signed September 24, 2026, directs the White House officials named in the suit to hand back the “hard pass” credentials revoked around September 18. It applies to those officials and the people acting with them. President Trump is a defendant, but the order carves him out.

It stays in place for 14 days, which lands on October 8, 2026 by the calendar. Kelly also set a $1.00 bond for the outlets to post by October 1, 2026. It’s a token amount.

Two weeks isn’t long. But the judge said he’ll set expedited briefing on a preliminary injunction inside that window, and that’s the step that could keep the passes active while the case moves forward.

Why Did Judge Kelly Say the White House Press Ban Likely Violated Due Process?

Kelly leaned on two D.C. Circuit decisions. Sherrill v. Knight (1977) and Karem v. Trump (2020) hold that a reporter’s White House hard pass is a liberty interest under the Fifth Amendment, so the government must give notice and a chance to respond before taking it. Karem adds that the White House needs standards for conduct that can cost someone a pass, plus fair notice of how severe the punishment could be.

The government didn’t contest the missing notice. Its September 22 letters, sent after the passes were already gone, pointed to general professionalism and decorum standards that Kelly found too vague to count. The order also notes that the White House renewed plaintiff Betsy Klein’s hard pass months after she published some of the reporting it now cites.

The administration argued that both precedents were wrongly decided, but Kelly’s answer was that the court is bound by D.C. Circuit precedent, full stop. A district judge can’t overrule the appeals court. That’s the core of this ruling.

Did the Judge Accept the White House’s National Security Argument in the Press Ban Lawsuit?

Kelly wasn’t persuaded, at least for now. The Justice Department argued that the outlets’ reporting put national security at risk and that White House access is a privilege, not a right. The judge called national security a weighty interest but found little in the record to back it up, noting that nothing before the lawsuit tied the revocations to it and that President Trump’s own announcement focused on what he called false and negative coverage.

The Defense Department officials who filed declarations had no direct knowledge of how reporters work in the White House, according to the order. Some of the stories cited in the letters were months or years old, and the outlets’ supplemental declarations showed that most of the reporters behind them didn’t hold hard passes at all. Honestly, that’s the detail that stood out to me, because it’s part of why the judge doubted the revocations would advance national security.

To be fair, Kelly wrote that courts should defer heavily to the Executive on national security. He just didn’t see the evidence here.

Can Trump Appeal a Temporary Restraining Order in the CNN, MS NOW and Politico Case?

Trump has vowed to appeal, and CBS News reports the Justice Department is expected to move quickly. I hadn’t seen a report of a filed appeal as of September 24, 2026.

But the order itself says temporary restraining orders are generally unappealable, and it turned down the government’s request to pause the order’s effective date. Kelly wrote that a stay would defeat the point of a restraining order, which is to preserve the last uncontested status quo right away. A preliminary injunction, unlike a TRO, is usually appealable, so that’s the more realistic route to the D.C. Circuit.

So does the appeal threat matter? Yes, but probably later, once there’s an injunction to appeal. For the wider picture of how these suits tend to play out, see Trump Lawsuits 2026, Every Major Case And What’s Happened.

What Does the CNN, MS NOW and Politico Ruling Mean for Other News Outlets?

The order covers only hard passes held by employees of these three organizations. It doesn’t reach other outlets, and the Justice Department noted in court that ABC News and The New York Times still have access.

We’ve seen this fight before. In 2018, Kelly granted a temporary order restoring then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s pass, the White House reinstated it, and CNN dropped its suit. In 2025, the Associated Press was pushed out of the press pool over its Gulf of Mexico wording, a district court enjoined that, and a D.C. Circuit panel later narrowed the injunction; according to the friend-of-the-court brief filed here, a merits appeal is still pending.

Trump wrote in his announcement that other outlets would follow, and the friend-of-the-court brief from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 media organizations cites that line. Other First Amendment retaliation claims against the administration are covered in NPR Lawsuit Against Trump, First Amendment Case Heads To December Trial After $36M Settlement Win and in Trump Law Firms 2026, Executive Orders, $1 Billion Pro Bono Deals, where four federal judges ruled the executive orders unconstitutional. If you’re a journalist or outlet facing a credential problem, a free legal consultation with a First Amendment attorney before a deadline passes is worth having.

Did you watch presidential coverage this week and notice it thin out? Four other TV networks suspended the shared pool in support of CNN, and I couldn’t confirm whether it has resumed.

Trump Administration Press Access Lawsuit — Full Timeline

Milestone	Date
Trump announces the ban on Truth Social, 3:04 p.m.	September 18, 2026
Reporters turned away at the White House; Secret Service takes their credentials	September 19, 2026
Lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court; Judge Kelly assigned	September 21, 2026
Four other TV pool networks suspend pool coverage	UNVERIFIED — reported as a result of CNN’s removal from Monday’s New York trip, exact date not confirmed
White House press office sends letters to the three outlets	September 22, 2026
Justice Department files its opposition to the restraining order	September 22, 2026 (late Tuesday)
Amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 media organizations	September 23, 2026
Emergency hearing by videoconference	September 23, 2026
Temporary restraining order granted	September 24, 2026
Response deadline set in the White House letters	September 25, 2026, 5 p.m.
Deadline to post $1.00 bond	October 1, 2026
Temporary restraining order expires unless extended	October 8, 2026 (14 days from the order)
Preliminary injunction briefing and hearing	UNVERIFIED — the court says it will set an expedited schedule

What Happens Next in the CNN, MS NOW and Politico Lawsuit?

Watch three things. The first is the preliminary injunction schedule, which decides whether the passes stay active past October 8, 2026, and the second is whether the Justice Department files an appeal anyway. The third is the First Amendment claims, which this order didn’t finally resolve.

The White House letters also gave the outlets until 5 p.m. Friday, September 25, 2026 to respond. How that process fits with the court order isn’t clear from the filings I reviewed.

For now, three newsrooms have their passes back. Whether they keep them is the next chapter.

Trump Administration Press Access Lawsuit — Frequently Asked Questions, No. 1:26-cv-03287

Is there a lawsuit over the White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico right now?

Yes. CNN, MS NOW Cable, LLC and POLITICO LLC sued on September 21, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with three reporters. Judge Timothy Kelly granted a temporary restraining order on September 24, 2026, restoring their hard passes while the case continues.

Did the judge rule that the Trump White House press ban is unconstitutional?

Not yet. Kelly found the outlets likely to succeed on their Fifth Amendment due process claim, which is enough for a temporary order. The order rests on due process and doesn’t finally resolve the First Amendment retaliation claims, so a full ruling on the merits is still ahead.

How long does the order restoring White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico last?

The temporary restraining order lasts 14 days from September 24, 2026, which is October 8 by the calendar. Kelly said he’ll set expedited briefing on a preliminary injunction during that time, so the passes could stay active longer if he grants one.

Can the Trump administration appeal the White House press access ruling?

Trump says he will, and the Justice Department is expected to try. But Kelly’s order notes that temporary restraining orders are generally unappealable, and he refused to pause it. A later preliminary injunction ruling would be easier to appeal.

Does the CNN, MS NOW and Politico order apply to other news outlets?

No. It restores hard passes held by employees of those three organizations. The Associated Press has a separate case over its exclusion from the press pool, and a merits appeal there is pending at the D.C. Circuit, according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed in this case.

Why does Judge Timothy Kelly’s 2018 Jim Acosta ruling matter to the CNN lawsuit?

Kelly, nominated by Trump in 2017, restored then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s pass in 2018 using Sherrill v. Knight. The White House then reinstated the pass and CNN dropped its suit. This time he applied the same 1977 precedent plus Karem v. Trump.

What laws and court decisions did the judge rely on in the Trump press access lawsuit?

The Fifth Amendment’s due process guarantee, applied through two D.C. Circuit cases: Sherrill v. Knight, 569 F.2d 124 (1977), and Karem v. Trump, 960 F.3d 656 (2020). Together they require notice, a chance to respond, and clear conduct standards before a hard pass is revoked.

What reason did the White House give for banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico?

Trump’s announcement blamed their coverage, which he called fake news. After the suit was filed, Justice Department lawyers added national security and professionalism concerns and said access is a privilege rather than a right. Kelly said the record so far doesn’t support the national security explanation.

Sources Used in This Trump White House Press Access Lawsuit Article

• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — Temporary Restraining Order, ECF No. 24, September 24, 2026: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.296754/gov.uscourts.dcd.296754.24.0.pdf
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — Brief of Proposed Amici Curiae, ECF No. 18-1, September 23, 2026: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.296754/gov.uscourts.dcd.296754.18.1_1.pdf
• CBS News — Judge blocks Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, restoring White House access for now, September 24, 2026: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-blocks-trump-ban-cnn-ms-now-politico-restoring-white-house-access/
• CBS News — Judge skeptical of Trump’s White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, September 23, 2026: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-white-house-ban-cnn-ms-now-politico-judge-court-hearing/
• NBC News — Judge orders White House to restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, September 24, 2026: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/judge-ruling-white-house-restore-access-media-ban-cnn-politico-ms-now-rcna599391
• Associated Press via MPR News — Judge orders White House to restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, September 24, 2026: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/09/24/judge-orders-white-house-to-restore-access-to-cnn-ms-now-and-politico
• MS NOW — Judge orders White House to restore press access to MS NOW, CNN and Politico, September 24, 2026: https://www.ms.now/news/judge-orders-white-house-to-restore-press-access-to-ms-now-cnn-and-politico
• CNBC — Trump media ban lawsuit set for Wednesday court hearing, September 21, 2026: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/trump-lawsuit-white-house-ban-ms-now-cnn-politico.html

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the court’s September 24, 2026 Temporary Restraining Order (ECF No. 24), the amicus brief on the same docket (ECF No. 18-1), and reporting from CBS News, NBC News and the Associated Press, as of September 24, 2026. This is a developing story. Last Updated: September 24, 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.