The White House announced on Friday that journalists would no longer be authorized to freely access an area of the West Wing that is home to offices for various senior communications officials, including Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In a memorandum, the National Security Council said journalists are prohibited from accessing Room 140, also known as "Upper Press," which is located near the Oval Office, without an appointment, claiming that the move is needed to shield potentially sensitive materials and protect national security.
"In order to protect such material, and maintain coordination between National Security Council Staff and White House Communications Staff, members of the press are no longer permitted to access Room 140 without prior approval in the form of an appointment with an authorized White House Staff Member," the memo said.
Credentialed White House journalists could previously access Room 140 on short notice to speak with senior officials. Journalists may still access another area where lower-level White House communications staff have desks, the memo said.
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The White House Correspondents’ Association argued that the new restrictions would impact reporters' ability to question officials, ensure transparency and hold the government to account.
"The White House Correspondents' Association unequivocally opposes any effort to limit journalists from areas within the communications operations of the White House that have long been open for newsgathering, including the press secretary’s office," CBS News White House reporter Weijia Jiang, the current president of the group, said in a statement.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on Friday that reporters had been caught secretly recording video and audio in offices and wandering into restricted areas.
"Some reporters have been caught secretly recording video and audio of our offices, along with pictures of sensitive info, without permission," he wrote on X. "Some reporters have wandered into restricted areas … Some reporters have been caught eavesdropping on private, closed-door meetings. Cabinet Secretaries routinely come into our office for private meetings, only to be ambushed by reporters waiting outside our doors."
The Clinton administration announced a similar move in 1993 to restrict press access to Room 140, but it was later rescinded following fierce backlash.
This comes after the Pentagon recently announced a new policy in which news outlets must agree to new press restrictions or lose their media credentials and Pentagon workspaces.
The policy requires journalists to pledge to the new rules, including that they could be deemed security risks and have their Pentagon press badges revoked if they ask employees to disclose information that has not been released by the department, even if the information is unclassified.
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At least 30 news outlets, including Fox News, refused to agree to the Pentagon media restrictions, asserting that the policy represents a threat to press freedom and hinders their ability to conduct independent newsgathering.
Additionally, the Trump administration earlier this year removed Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News from the permanent "pool" of reporters covering the president, although those outlets may still be included on a sporadic basis.
Reuters contributed to this report.
