{"id":163401,"date":"2026-09-23T11:09:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/09\/23\/the-white-house-has-a-whole-lot-of-talking-points-and-not-a-lot-of-case-law\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:09:46","slug":"the-white-house-has-a-whole-lot-of-talking-points-and-not-a-lot-of-case-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/09\/23\/the-white-house-has-a-whole-lot-of-talking-points-and-not-a-lot-of-case-law\/","title":{"rendered":"The White House Has A Whole Lot Of Talking Points And Not A Lot Of Case Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White House spent the first two days of this week explaining why banning three news organizations from the building isn\u2019t a First Amendment problem. This afternoon<\/a>, it has to explain that to a federal judge instead.<\/p>\n

MS NOW got the talking points the White House sent out<\/a> after Trump announced the ban on Friday, and it\u2019s some eyebrow raising stuff. The first is about transparency. \u201cNo President has been more transparent or offered more of his time to the press,\u201d it states. \u201cIn addition to working around the clock to serve the American people, President Trump also makes time to bring them into the conversation and answer reporters\u2019 questions.\u201d Um, okay? This doesn\u2019t answer \u2014 or even try to answer \u2014 any of the constitutional concerns, but, you know, makes a cute sound bite, I guess?<\/p>\n

The second one at least tries the law. \u201cThe First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle certain outlets and members of the press to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool.\u201d Note the lack of mention of the due process end of the equation.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the one Alicia Menendez read on the air Tuesday<\/a>, \u201cFabricating facts or reporting verifiable falsehoods from inside the White House complex is an intentional breach of professional decorum, and it is severely disruptive to the mission and purpose of the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hold onto that one, because it graduated from talking point to part of the briefing.<\/p>\n

DOJ senior counsel Michael Velchik filed the administration\u2019s opposition on Tuesday, and the brief runs the same script<\/a>. The outlets, it says, failed to maintain basic minimum \u201cstandards of professionalism and decorum\u201d and have been \u201ctrafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues.\u201d Access to the White House, Velchik wrote, \u201cis a privilege \u2014 not a right.\u201d The national security harm, per the filing, includes reporting on depleted munitions, the Iran war negotiations, East Wing renovation security, and a Politico story about the Republicans\u2019 midterm convention in Dallas. The White House also posted the whole argument on its own website<\/a> under the headline \u201cWhite House Access Is a Privilege \u2014 Not a Right.\u201d<\/p>\n

This reads a lot like what happens when you announce a policy on Friday and go looking for the legal justification on Monday. Because the legal precedent is clear<\/a>: once the White House opens its facilities to the press generally \u2014 the briefing room, for instance \u2014 it can\u2019t pick and choose among journalists based on what they publish. And it can\u2019t yank a pass without notice, a chance to respond, and a written explanation.<\/p>\n

The surrogates aren\u2019t running a tighter operation. JD Vance insisted Monday<\/a> that the media blockage is \u201cnot a ban,\u201d which would be a stronger point if the President hadn\u2019t written on Truth Social<\/a>, \u201cI am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW \u2026 and Politico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the hearing. The case landed in front of U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, and if that name sounds familiar it\u2019s because he is the same judge who ordered the White House to give Jim Acosta his hard pass back in 2018, on the due process point, three days after CNN and the Gibson Dunn team now handling this case<\/a> filed their motion. The administration is asking him to reach the opposite result on a record that includes the President saying out loud that he did it because he didn\u2019t like the coverage.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an uphill battle for an administration without a legal argument to stand on. We\u2019ll see this afternoon whether Judge Kelly is amused by the talking points.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Trump Banned Three News Outlets And Handed Gibson Dunn A Sequel It Already Knows How To Win<\/a>
The DOJ Is Coming For Reporters. Todd Blanche Just Said So Out Loud.<\/a>
DHS Is Hunting Down Trump Critics. The \u2018Free Speech\u2019 Warriors Are Mighty Quiet.<\/a>
Trump Admits: \u2018We Took The Freedom Of Speech Away\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post The White House Has A Whole Lot Of Talking Points And Not A Lot Of Case Law<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Image via ChatGPT)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The White House spent the first two days of this week explaining why banning three news organizations from the building isn\u2019t a First Amendment problem. This afternoon<\/a>, it has to explain that to a federal judge instead.<\/p>\n

MS NOW got the talking points the White House sent out<\/a> after Trump announced the ban on Friday, and it\u2019s some eyebrow raising stuff. The first is about transparency. \u201cNo President has been more transparent or offered more of his time to the press,\u201d it states. \u201cIn addition to working around the clock to serve the American people, President Trump also makes time to bring them into the conversation and answer reporters\u2019 questions.\u201d Um, okay? This doesn\u2019t answer \u2014 or even try to answer \u2014 any of the constitutional concerns, but, you know, makes a cute sound bite, I guess?<\/p>\n

The second one at least tries the law. \u201cThe First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle certain outlets and members of the press to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool.\u201d Note the lack of mention of the due process end of the equation.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the one Alicia Menendez read on the air Tuesday<\/a>, \u201cFabricating facts or reporting verifiable falsehoods from inside the White House complex is an intentional breach of professional decorum, and it is severely disruptive to the mission and purpose of the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hold onto that one, because it graduated from talking point to part of the briefing.<\/p>\n

DOJ senior counsel Michael Velchik filed the administration\u2019s opposition on Tuesday, and the brief runs the same script<\/a>. The outlets, it says, failed to maintain basic minimum \u201cstandards of professionalism and decorum\u201d and have been \u201ctrafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues.\u201d Access to the White House, Velchik wrote, \u201cis a privilege \u2014 not a right.\u201d The national security harm, per the filing, includes reporting on depleted munitions, the Iran war negotiations, East Wing renovation security, and a Politico story about the Republicans\u2019 midterm convention in Dallas. The White House also posted the whole argument on its own website<\/a> under the headline \u201cWhite House Access Is a Privilege \u2014 Not a Right.\u201d<\/p>\n

This reads a lot like what happens when you announce a policy on Friday and go looking for the legal justification on Monday. Because the legal precedent is clear<\/a>: once the White House opens its facilities to the press generally \u2014 the briefing room, for instance \u2014 it can\u2019t pick and choose among journalists based on what they publish. And it can\u2019t yank a pass without notice, a chance to respond, and a written explanation.<\/p>\n

The surrogates aren\u2019t running a tighter operation. JD Vance insisted Monday<\/a> that the media blockage is \u201cnot a ban,\u201d which would be a stronger point if the President hadn\u2019t written on Truth Social<\/a>, \u201cI am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW \u2026 and Politico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the hearing. The case landed in front of U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, and if that name sounds familiar it\u2019s because he is the same judge who ordered the White House to give Jim Acosta his hard pass back in 2018, on the due process point, three days after CNN and the Gibson Dunn team now handling this case<\/a> filed their motion. The administration is asking him to reach the opposite result on a record that includes the President saying out loud that he did it because he didn\u2019t like the coverage.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an uphill battle for an administration without a legal argument to stand on. We\u2019ll see this afternoon whether Judge Kelly is amused by the talking points.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Trump Banned Three News Outlets And Handed Gibson Dunn A Sequel It Already Knows How To Win<\/a>
The DOJ Is Coming For Reporters. Todd Blanche Just Said So Out Loud.<\/a>
DHS Is Hunting Down Trump Critics. The \u2018Free Speech\u2019 Warriors Are Mighty Quiet.<\/a>
Trump Admits: \u2018We Took The Freedom Of Speech Away\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The White House spent the first two days of this week explaining why banning three news organizations from the building isn\u2019t a First Amendment problem. This afternoon, it has to explain that to a federal judge instead. MS NOW got the talking points the White House sent out after Trump announced the ban on Friday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":163402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}