A US federal judge ordered a 14-day halt to the White House ban on journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico and directed that their access be restored. Reuters reported that Judge Tim Kelly found the revocation of the outlets' credentials was likely to violate constitutional due-process protections.
In the hours immediately after the ruling, however, some journalists from the three organizations were still denied entry to the White House. Reuters said it was unclear whether that reflected deliberate non-compliance or confusion within security systems and staff.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico jointly sued over the ban, arguing that it violated First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press as well as due-process rights.
The White House had defended the restrictions on national-security grounds and criticized the outlets' coverage. In his preliminary ruling, Kelly said the record lacked sufficient factual support for the claim that restoring access would endanger national security.