White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended an Oct. 31 policy restricting unscheduled entry to Room 140, the so-called "Upper Press," saying it was prompted by instances of reporters allegedly recording or overhearing sensitive staff discussions. Journalists can still access the room by appointment; Leavitt said many reporters privately accept the system despite public criticism. The White House Correspondents' Association condemned the change as a limitation on newsgathering and questioning of senior officials.
White House Limits Walk-In Access to 'Upper Press'; Leavitt Cites Eavesdropping Concerns
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended an Oct. 31 policy restricting unscheduled entry to Room 140, the so-called "Upper Press," saying it was prompted by instances of reporters allegedly recording or overhearing sensitive staff discussions. Journalists can still access the room by appointment; Leavitt said many reporters privately accept the system despite public criticism. The White House Correspondents' Association condemned the change as a limitation on newsgathering and questioning of senior officials.
07:54 AM, 11/20/2025Politics
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended a new policy that restricts unscheduled reporter access to Room 140, commonly called the "Upper Press," near the Oval Office. The change, announced on Oct. 31, prohibits unscheduled walk-ins; credentialed journalists may still visit the space by appointment.
Leavitt said the policy was prompted by incidents in which staff discovered reporters recording or overhearing sensitive discussions from nearby areas without permission. Speaking on the podcast "Pod Force One" with Miranda Devine, she described situations in which reporters allegedly recorded meetings, listened in on conversations and heckled officials entering the room.
"We felt it became very inappropriate for reporters to be loitering around sensitive information in our offices," Leavitt said. "We did unfortunately catch some unruly reporters recording us without our permission, listening in on conversations, eavesdropping.
We'd have staff meetings in the morning. Some of the reporters started to pick up on that. And we'd walk out, and they would be out there trying to listen. If Secretary Rubio or the chief [of staff] want to come in and brief us on something, you'd have reporters out there heckling them. It just became an inappropriate work environment."
Leavitt emphasized that the Upper Press remains accessible by scheduled appointment and said she works to provide reporters with as much time as her schedule allows. She also said that, despite online criticism, many journalists have privately accepted the appointment system.
The White House Correspondents' Association pushed back, arguing the policy curtails journalists' ability to gather news and question senior officials. Weijia Jiang, a CBS News White House reporter and president of the association, said the group "unequivocally opposes any effort to limit journalists from areas within the communications operations of the White House that have long been open for newsgathering, including the press secretary’s office."
White House officials note the change echoes previous restrictions applied elsewhere that conditioned reporter access to sensitive facilities. The dispute underscores ongoing tensions between press access and security or privacy concerns inside high-level government workspaces.