Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore White House

So now a federal judge gets to decide who sits in the White House briefing room. That’s not a job description anyone voted for, but here we are. The judge found that CNN, MSNBC, and Politico are likely to win their challenge to having credentials revoked, and ordered the administration to restore them. Let’s at least be honest about what’s really happening: these are three well-funded, heavily lawyered outlets that never had any trouble getting their questions answered. This ruling isn’t about protecting some lonely reporter’s right to speak truth to power.

The White House has always controlled its own press space. That’s not censorship, that’s basic management. The briefing room is not a public park, and the president is not a high school principal who has to explain himself to every student newspaper. The judge’s theory seems to be that once you let anyone in, you have to let everyone in. That would be a cute constitutional argument, but it would also mean the courts, not the executive branch, get to run the West Wing. The president doesn’t answer to a judge about who stands in his own house. It’s that simple.

This is a preliminary ruling, so it’s not the final word. But it’s a preview of how the left will try to sue its way into every Oval Office decision. We get it: CNN and MSNBC don’t like hearing from people who don't share their worldview. The administration could have been more careful with the paperwork, sure. But the bigger problem is a federal bench that thinks it can micromanage press access because a few powerful media companies cried foul. The briefing room should not be a court-ordered open house. If the judges want to run a newsroom, they can resign and go apply for one.