This isn’t a legal gray area anymore. A federal judge ruled the ban was likely unconstitutional — and the White House appears to have ignored the order.

ONYX NEWS STAFF — DATELINE: WASHINGTON

2-MINUTE CONTEXT Late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly — a Trump appointee — granted CNN, MS NOW, and Politico a temporary restraining order, finding they were likely to succeed on their claim that the ban violated due process. By Thursday morning, journalists from those outlets were denied White House entry again, despite the order.

What the Judge Actually Ruled

Kelly’s eight-page ruling did not hedge. “This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” he wrote, ordering officials to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the hard passes revoked the prior weekend. He directly rejected the administration’s national security justification, writing that officials offered “little to back up” that claim. He also found the due process required under Sherrill v. Knight — the 1977 precedent ONYX covered this morning — “wasn’t played out here.” Notably, Kelly said during the hearing he was “as surprised as anyone” to find that 50-year-old precedent so directly on point.

The TRO applies to all named defendants “except for President Trump” personally, and remains in effect 14 days while the court sets an expedited schedule for a fuller preliminary injunction hearing.

Then the White House Didn’t Comply

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico filed for an emergency hearing Thursday after journalists from all three outlets were blocked from White House access again, hours after Kelly’s order took effect. MS NOW White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López was among those denied entry. It remains unclear whether the five-network television pool — which ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC had suspended rather than replaced CNN within — has resumed.

“He keeps proving our point. He’s literally our lead witness here.”— Theodore Boutrous, attorney for the banned outlets, on Trump’s public statements about the ban

What Trump Said Beforehand

Trump had already signaled he expected to lose. In a series of Truth Social posts, he called Kelly “totally disloyal” and predicted the judge would “probably” rule against him. Asked directly at the UN whether he’d restore access if ordered to, Trump told Reuters: “I think we have a right to clean out fake news” — a response that did not commit to compliance.

WHERE THIS STANDS
14 days duration of the temporary restraining order	8 pages length of Judge Kelly’s ruling
3 outlets ordered reinstated: CNN, MS NOW, Politico	4 networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) that suspended the shared TV pool in solidarity

WHY THIS MATTERS: A court order is not optional guidance — if agencies are genuinely still denying entry after a binding TRO, that’s a materially different and more serious story than a legal dispute still being litigated. This is the detail to confirm before anything else as coverage continues today.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: CNN, MS NOW, and Politico have requested an emergency hearing over the apparent non-compliance. ONYX will follow whether the court holds that hearing today and what it finds.

SOURCE TRANSPARENCYThe Washington Post — real-time reporting on the ruling and subsequent non-compliance, September 23–24NPR, CNBC, The Hill, TheWrap, MS NOW — hearing coverage and ruling text, September 23ONYX News — companion pieces, this morning’s pack and today’s supplementary batch