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"White House Access Is a Privilege—Not a Right"
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"White House Access Is a Privilege—Not a Right"
Eugene Volokh | 9.22.2026 11:10 PM
As I noted Friday, according to the D.C. Circuit (the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over D.C.), it's
unconstitutional for the government to exclude press outlets based on viewpoint from spaces that have been broadly opened to the press, such as the main White House press briefing room but constitutional to do so as to spaces that aren't generally open to the press, such as interviews in the Oval Office.The key precedent on this in AP v. Budowich (D.C. Cir. 2025), which upheld the exclusion of the AP from the Oval Office (because of AP's refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America"), but reaffirmed (citing Sherrill v. Knight (D.C. Cir. 1977)) that
When the White House opens its facilities to the press generally, as it does in the Brady Briefing Room, it cannot exclude journalists based on viewpoint.
I stand by this legal analysis, but wanted to pass along the White House's contrary argument that was posted yesterday:
Last week, President Donald J. Trump removed CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White........
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