Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume accused the Trump White House of appearing to defy a federal court order Thursday morning after reporters for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico remained locked out of the complex.
“The WH has generally avoided defying court orders but appears to have done just that this morning,” Hume wrote.
The WH has generally avoided defying court orders but appears to have done just that this morning. https://t.co/7eOQtdx6v9
— Brit Hume (@brithume) September 24, 2026
Hours earlier, Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to “return, reinstate, and restore” the credentials of journalists from the three organizations.
Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking President Trump’s ban while the outlets’ lawsuit proceeds.
But when the reporters returned Thursday morning, their badges still did not work.
MS NOW White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López said her badge flashed red at the gate and was confiscated. CNN reported that correspondent Betsy Klein and a photojournalist were denied entry, while Politico said one of its reporters also had a credential taken.
MS NOW White House reporter Laura Barrón-López describes what happened as she attempted to enter the White House grounds and was denied despite a court order restoring press access.
— MS NOW (@ms.now) September 24, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Barrón-López said it was unclear whether the continued exclusion represented defiance of Kelly’s order or “some kind of incompetence or lag in the system.”
Attorneys for the three news organizations returned to court seeking an emergency hearing.
“Defendants have already repeatedly violated the Court’s Order,” attorney Theodore Boutrous wrote in the filing.
White House press-operations director Micah Stopperich responded that officials began restoring the credentials early Thursday and that the Secret Service told him shortly after 9 a.m. that the badges had been reactivated.
The reporters did not regain access until around noon, according to The Washington Post. Kelly declined to convene the requested emergency hearing after receiving the White House declaration.
Kelly had found that the news organizations were highly likely to succeed on their claim that the administration violated their due-process rights by revoking the credentials without sufficient notice or an opportunity to respond.
“This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” the judge wrote.
Trump announced the ban after accusing the outlets of reporting “FICTION and LIES.” The administration later argued that stories involving U.S. missile stockpiles, Trump’s White House ballroom, and the Republican midterm convention threatened national security.
Kelly was skeptical.
“The record lacks factual support” for the administration’s claim that revoking the passes protected national security, he wrote.
[NOTE: A White House hard pass does not guarantee admission to every presidential event. It allows a journalist who has already received security clearance to enter the complex, press workspaces, and regular briefings without obtaining a new credential each day.]
The dispute also affected coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit.
CNN was scheduled to provide television pool coverage, but Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC declined to replace the network after Trump banned it. There were no American television pool cameras for Xi’s arrival ceremony on the South Lawn Thursday morning.