# What is a White House hard pass?

A hard pass is the standing credential that lets a reporter enter the White House without applying each day. Who issues it, how, and when it was revoked.

Published 2026-09-23. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 14 sources.

A White House hard pass is the standing credential, issued by the White House Press Office, that lets a journalist who covers the president of the United States enter the White House grounds and press areas without applying for entry each day ([glossary: hard pass](https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/hard-pass)). White House staff can suspend or revoke hard passes, and United States courts have required notice, a chance to respond and written reasons before a pass is denied ([Sherrill v. Knight](https://thewaronnews.com/cases/sherrill-v-knight-1977)).

## What is a hard pass, and what does it allow?

The White House is the office and residence of the president of the United States in Washington, D.C., and the White House press corps is the group of journalists who report from it. "Reporters who regularly cover the White House are issued 'hard passes' to enter the complex," according to the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), the organization of reporters who cover the president ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/); [glossary: WHCA](https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/whca)). The WHCA wrote that the passes "allow access to the White House campus, without having to apply for a temporary pass each day" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)).

A hard pass is not needed to attend press briefings. The WHCA says that "any journalist can attend the briefings, even if their outlet doesn't have an assigned seat," and that "others can get a temporary pass through the White House Press Office" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)). That temporary credential is a [day pass](https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/day-pass), which requires a new application for each day. The WHCA describes the hard pass as "an important convenience for those who regularly cover the White House" because it lets journalists enter "without permission ahead of time" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)).

The hard pass is separate from two other arrangements that shape White House coverage. Seats in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room are assigned by the WHCA board, which has done so "since the Reagan administration," under President Ronald Reagan; there are 49 seats, with the Associated Press in the front row centre ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)). The [press pool](https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/press-pool), the small rotating group of reporters who cover the president in spaces too small for the whole press corps, was chosen by the WHCA until February 25, 2025, when the White House took over the selection ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool)). On the White House grounds the pool is "typically a group of 20 correspondents from wire services, print outlets, TV and radio, along with photojournalists and sound operators," and the WHCA wrote that "AP, Bloomberg and Reuters have permanent slots in the pool" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)). Those permanent slots for wire services ended on April 15, 2025, when the White House announced that the three agencies would compete for a single rotating seat ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-cuts-wire-service-pool-slot)).

The process by which a government body decides which journalists receive such credentials is called [credentialing](https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/credentialing). The record files government decisions about individual reporters' passes and accreditation under [credential control](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/credential_control), and decisions to bar reporters from rooms, buildings and trips under [access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban).

## Can anybody get a press pass to the White House?

A journalist who covers the White House regularly can apply. "To get a hard pass, journalists must submit an application to the White House Press Office and undergo a background screening by the Secret Service, which protects the President and is responsible for security at the White House," the WHCA wrote, adding that "this process can take several months" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/); [glossary: Secret Service](https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/secret-service)). The WHCA itself "doesn't issue credentials or control who can enter the White House complex or briefing room" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)).

The process was described in detail in a 1977 court opinion. In the 1970s, the Press Office first checked that the applicant held a pass for the House and Senate press galleries of the United States Congress, lived in the Washington area and needed to report from the White House regularly, which was usually confirmed by an editor; the application then went to the Secret Service "for a security check, including a background FBI investigation" ([Sherrill v. Knight opinion](https://static.case.law/f2d/569/cases/0124-01.json)). "Whether a pass is then issued depends solely on the recommendation of the Secret Service," the court wrote. The opinion records that "as of March 5, 1975, there were apparently 1,589 outstanding White House press passes" ([opinion](https://static.case.law/f2d/569/cases/0124-01.json)).

In 2019, during the first presidency of Donald Trump, the White House applied a new standard. According to the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), a magazine about journalism, on May 9, 2019, journalists had to be present in the White House "for at least 90 days out of a 180-day period" to qualify for a hard pass, and "virtually the entire press corps failed to meet this new test, including all six of the Post's White House correspondents," citing Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank ([CJR](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/white-house-press-passes.php)). Outlets applied for exceptions for senior journalists or accepted six-month passes, and the press secretary told the Post the change was a result of security concerns, CJR reported ([CJR](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/white-house-press-passes.php)).

## Can the White House take away a journalist's hard pass?

It can, but the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has set limits. In Sherrill v. Knight, decided on December 15, 1977, the court held that the First Amendment, the part of the United States Constitution that protects freedom of the press, "requires that this access not be denied arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons" ([opinion](https://static.case.law/f2d/569/cases/0124-01.json); [case record](https://thewaronnews.com/cases/sherrill-v-knight-1977)). It required "notice of the factual bases for denial, an opportunity for the applicant to respond to these, and a final written statement of the reasons for denial" ([case record](https://thewaronnews.com/cases/sherrill-v-knight-1977)). The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), a United States non-profit that gives legal help to journalists, filed a brief in the case with the WHCA and the National Press Club; it argued that "a system of licensing access to news which is not bounded by constitutional safeguards is open to the abuse of excluding those whose sole crime is opposition to the government" ([RCFP](https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/)). That case concerned a pass that was never issued; the court wrote in a footnote that it had "no occasion" to consider revocation of "an already-issued White House press pass" ([opinion](https://static.case.law/f2d/569/cases/0124-01.json)).

On November 7, 2018, after a news conference with President Donald Trump, the White House suspended the hard pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-white-house-revokes-acosta-press-pass)). Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the White House would never tolerate "a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern," a description CNN disputed ([Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/8/white-house-suspends-cnns-acosta-after-trump-confrontation)). On November 16, 2018, a federal judge, Timothy J. Kelly, granted CNN a temporary restraining order on due process grounds drawn from Sherrill ([case record](https://thewaronnews.com/cases/cnn-v-trump-2018)). On November 19, the White House told Acosta "your hard pass is restored," and CNN dropped the suit ([Yahoo News / AP](https://news.yahoo.com/white-house-restores-jim-acosta-212020316.html)). The WHCA later wrote that when "the Trump White House attempted to revoke a journalist's hard pass," it "advocated directly with the Administration and in federal court" ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)).

On August 16, 2019, the White House press secretary suspended the credentials of Brian Karem, White House correspondent for Playboy, for 30 days after an exchange with a former presidential adviser in the Rose Garden ([RCFP](https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/karem-v-trump/)). The lower court, the federal trial court in Washington, ruled in Karem's favour in September 2019, and the Department of Justice appealed; the RCFP and a coalition of 44 media organizations supported Karem on appeal ([RCFP](https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/)). In June 2020, a D.C. Circuit panel held that the suspension likely violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process; Judge David S. Tatel wrote that "the White House may not rely on unarticulated standards of professionalism" and that "forty years on, today's hard-pass system is little changed from the one described in Sherrill" ([Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press](https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/)). The court also wrote that the White House could still order "the immediate removal of rogue, mooning journalists" to keep order at events ([RCFP](https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/)). Sam Donaldson, a former ABC News journalist who held White House credentials for more than 50 years, said no administration before Trump's had revoked a reporter's White House press pass over coverage or behaviour while reporting, according to the RCFP ([RCFP](https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/)).

## What happened to hard passes in 2025 and 2026?

In February 2025, the White House began excluding the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One, and on February 25, 2025, it took over selection of the press pool from the WHCA ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-bars-ap-gulf-of-america); [record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool)). On October 31, 2025, it announced that reporters would need an appointment to enter "Upper Press," the West Wing offices of the press secretary and senior press aides; a White House memo said the policy "will ensure adherence to best practices pertaining to access to sensitive material" ([U.S. Press Freedom Tracker](https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-restricts-reporter-access-to-press-secretary-staffs-offices/); [record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-restricts-access-to-upper-press-office)).

A separate credential system applies at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, the United States military department. On September 19, 2025, the department issued rules that required reporters to pledge not to solicit or publish unauthorized information; most credentialed news organizations declined to sign and turned in their badges from October 15, 2025 ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules); [record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-press-corps-forfeits-badges)). Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, "Wear a badge and follow the rules," and added, "or go home" ([Wikipedia summary of reporting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Pentagon_press_pass_forfeiture)).

On September 18, 2026, Trump announced on Truth Social, a social media platform, that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House, and described their coverage as "FICTION and LIES" ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/2026/09/19/nx-s1-5974854/trump-cnn-msnow-politico-ban)). On September 19, the Secret Service turned away CNN's Betsy Klein, MS NOW's Akayla Gardner and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett at the gates after their hard passes were deactivated ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-white-house-bans-cnn-msnow-politico)). One of the reporters said she was told "they had to take my badge because it was disabled" ([ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-banning-cnn-msnow-politico-white-house/story?id=136569980)). The White House has not said which story or stories prompted the decision (as of 2026-09-22).

Banning CNN also affected pool duty. CNN had been scheduled as the television pool network on September 21, 2026, and the other networks declined to replace it; Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a press freedom organization based in Paris, reported that the television pool would not cover presidential events "going forward" ([RSF](https://rsf.org/en/usa-white-house-media-ban-robs-public-access-independent-presidential-coverage)). The outlets sued on September 21, 2026, in Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-03287, which is pending before a federal judge, with a hearing scheduled for September 23, 2026 ([case record](https://thewaronnews.com/cases/cnn-msnow-politico-v-trump-2026)). The outlets say the deactivation of their hard passes violated their First Amendment rights and their Fifth Amendment right to due process ([AP via MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/09/22/what-is-the-white-house-pool-its-a-battleground-between-trump-and-free-press-rights)).

### Hard-pass and pool changes, 1966 to 2026

| Date | Action | Outcome, as of 2026-09-22 |
|---|---|---|
| 1966-05-03 | Secret Service denies Robert Sherrill a pass | Court requires notice and written reasons, 1977 ([case](https://thewaronnews.com/cases/sherrill-v-knight-1977)) |
| 2018-11-07 | Acosta hard pass suspended | Restored 2018-11-19 ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-white-house-revokes-acosta-press-pass)) |
| 2019 | 90-of-180-days standard for hard passes | Exceptions and six-month passes issued ([CJR](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/white-house-press-passes.php)) |
| 2019-08-16 | Karem credentials suspended for 30 days | Suspension blocked on appeal, 2020 ([RCFP](https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/)) |
| 2025-02-25 | White House takes over pool selection | In effect ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool)) |
| 2025-10-31 | Upper Press closed without appointment | In effect ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-restricts-access-to-upper-press-office)) |
| 2026-09-19 | CNN, MS NOW, Politico hard passes deactivated | Case pending ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-white-house-bans-cnn-msnow-politico)) |

## Is the swimming pool still under the White House press room?

The briefing room sits over the old indoor pool. According to the White House Historical Association, the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room was built in 1969 and 1970, authorized by President Richard M. Nixon, as "a one-story Briefing Room installed over the swimming pool built for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933" ([White House Historical Association](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-president-the-press-and-proximity)). Pool reporters have travelled with presidents since Roosevelt's time, and three wire reporters were with him at Warm Springs, Georgia, when he died in 1945 ([WHCA](https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/)).

## How do other countries issue passes to reporters who cover the government?

Other governments also issue credentials that decide who may enter official buildings, and the record sets them side by side on the [access-ban ladder](https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/access_ban). In Türkiye, the Council of State, the country's top administrative court, suspended 2018 rules under which the presidency's Communications Directorate could deny or cancel the press cards that let reporters enter official buildings ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-turkiye-press-card-controls-restrictive)). In Kazakhstan, rules adopted in August 2024 allow a journalist's accreditation to be withdrawn for six months over conduct at a news event, including off-topic questions ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-kazakhstan-restrictive-media-accreditation-rules)). In Belarus, on August 29, 2020, the government withdrew the accreditation of at least 17 journalists working for foreign outlets ([record](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-belarus-strips-accreditation-foreign-outlets)).

## Sources

1. White House Correspondents' Association, "Covering the White House". https://whca.press/covering-the-white-house/ (White House Correspondents' Association).
2. Sherrill v. Knight, 569 F.2d 124 (D.C. Cir. 1977). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/569/124/35083/ Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20260920061644/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/569/124/35083/ (Justia, 1977-01-01).
3. Columbia Journalism Review, 2019-05-09. https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/white-house-press-passes.php (Columbia Journalism Review, 2019-05-09).
4. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Karem v. Trump brief. https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/karem-v-trump/ (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press).
5. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2020-06-11. https://www.rcfp.org/karem-dc-circuit-press-pass-ruling/ (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2020-06-11).
6. White House suspends CNN's Acosta after Trump confrontation. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/8/white-house-suspends-cnns-acosta-after-trump-confrontation (Al Jazeera, 2018-11-08).
7. White House restores Jim Acosta's press pass, CNN drops lawsuit. https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-restores-jim-acosta-212020316.html (Yahoo News / AP, 2018-11-19).
8. White House restricts reporter access to press secretary, staff's offices. https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-restricts-reporter-access-to-press-secretary-staffs-offices/ (U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, 2025-10-31).
9. Trump says CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be banned from the White House. https://www.npr.org/2026/09/19/nx-s1-5974854/trump-cnn-msnow-politico-ban Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20260921004920/https://www.npr.org/2026/09/19/nx-s1-5974854/trump-cnn-msnow-politico-ban (NPR, 2026-09-19).
10. Trump banning CNN, MS NOW, Politico from White House. https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-banning-cnn-msnow-politico-white-house/story?id=136569980 Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20260921065421/https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-banning-cnn-msnow-politico-white-house/story?id=136569980 (ABC News, 2026-09-19).
11. Reporters Without Borders, 2026-09-22. https://rsf.org/en/usa-white-house-media-ban-robs-public-access-independent-presidential-coverage (Reporters Without Borders, 2026-09-22).
12. What is the White House pool? These days, it's a battleground between Trump and free press rights. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/09/22/what-is-the-white-house-pool-its-a-battleground-between-trump-and-free-press-rights (AP (via MPR News), 2026-09-22).
13. White House Historical Association. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-president-the-press-and-proximity (White House Historical Association).
14. 2025 Pentagon press pass forfeiture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Pentagon_press_pass_forfeiture Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20260920094332/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Pentagon_press_pass_forfeiture (Wikipedia).

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/explainers/white-house-hard-pass. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.