Overview
- Effective Nov. 1, accredited reporters must secure prior appointments to enter Room 140, the upper press room adjacent to the Oval Office.
- The change reduces spontaneous access to senior communications officials, including Communications Director Steven Cheung and spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
- The memorandum cites the handling of sensitive information by White House communications staff as the basis for restricting entry.
- Cheung said on X that some reporters secretly recorded audio or video, photographed confidential material, and entered restricted areas near the Oval Office.
- The White House Correspondents' Association opposed the limits as harmful to transparency and accountability, while the memo maintains open interactions in the lower press room.