The White House TV press pool resumed Friday after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered that CNN, MS Now and Politico be allowed back on White House grounds. CBS rejoined the five-outlet TV rotation, which also includes ABC, CNN, Fox News and NBC. The pool said it will "return to covering the president in a normal capacity with a full crew," after a week in which some events lacked high-quality audio and video. The three outlets sued the administration, and the judge's order restored their access.
White House TV Pool Resumes After Judge Orders CNN, MS Now and Politico Reinstated
Members of the press are seen around the White House in Washington D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
Sept. 25 — The White House television press pool resumed operations on Friday, about a week after President Donald Trump barred three news organizations from maintaining a presence inside the White House.
The move followed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in the District of Columbia, who ordered that the outlets — CNN, MS Now and Politico — be allowed back into the White House grounds.
A Friday pool memo reported that CBS has returned to the rotation of five broadcasters responsible for TV pool coverage. The rotation now includes ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC.
"The plan is to return to covering the president in a normal capacity with a full crew," the pool report said.
Why Coverage Was Interrupted
After the White House directed that reporters from CNN, MS Now and Politico not be permitted inside to cover the executive branch, the remaining members of the TV pool decided not to provide video coverage from the premises. That decision left some major events during the week without high-quality audio and video feeds, according to reports.
"Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the president. This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place. All other pool coverage will continue as normal." — Bryan Boughton, Fox News Washington bureau chief
Court Action
The three excluded organizations sued the White House seeking access. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the administration to allow those reporters back on the White House grounds, prompting the TV pool to resume its rotation the following day.
Note: The original source lists the outlet as "MS Now." If this is a typographical error, consider verifying the exact outlet name (for example, MSNBC) before publication.
Help us improve.
