Particle.news
Download on the App Store
7 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

D.C. Circuit Upholds Restrictions on AP White House Access

The ruling leaves the news organization sidelined from invite-only presidential events under a pool system, prompting preparations for a Supreme Court appeal.

AP's members leave the U.S. District Court, on the day a judge hears arguments in the Associated Press' (AP) bid to restore access for its journalists to cover press events aboard Air Force One and at the White House, after the Trump administration barred the news agency for continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2025. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo
FILE - President Donald Trump holds up a signed proclamation declaring Feb. 9 Gulf of America Day, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum watches aboard Air Force One as Trump travels from West Palm Beach, Fla. to New Orleans, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 21: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answers questions from reporters outside the White House on July 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Leavitt answered a range of questions on a number of topics following a brief television interview. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Image

Overview

  • The full D.C. Circuit on July 22 declined to lift a June panel’s order that bars AP journalists from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other invite-only White House spaces.
  • The court rejected the AP’s request for en banc review, keeping the temporary stay in place, leaving access decisions to the administration’s rotational press pool system.
  • The AP sued in February after being excluded for refusing to adopt Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, arguing that the ban violated First Amendment protections against viewpoint discrimination.
  • A district court had ruled that excluding AP reporters based on editorial choices breached the First Amendment, but a three-judge appellate panel paused that injunction in early June by a 2-1 vote.
  • AP leaders say they are preparing a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the administration’s claim of absolute presidential discretion over media access.