Overview
- A three-judge appeals panel heard arguments on the administration’s challenge to an April ruling that found the AP’s restrictions likely unconstitutional, a decision that remains stayed with no ruling yet.
- Justice Department lawyer Yaakov Roth argued the president may select which reporters enter nonpublic, invitation-only venues and is not required to apply viewpoint-neutral rules there.
- AP attorney Charles Tobin said the government’s long-standing press-pool system constitutes a program that must be run on reasonable, viewpoint-neutral terms under the First Amendment.
- Judges pressed both sides, with one raising retaliation hypotheticals about public access and others questioning how any injunction could be enforced without improperly binding the president.
- The case stems from AP keeping “Gulf of Mexico” as its default style after Trump’s renaming, with AP reporters often excluded from close-in pool events while AP photographers are frequently admitted, and nearly four dozen news outlets filed briefs supporting the AP.