White House press corps

The White House press corps is the group of journalists, correspondents, and members of the media usually assigned to the White House in Washington, D.C., to cover the president of the United States, White House events, and news briefings. Its offices are located in the West Wing.

Overview

Photographers and videographers in the Oval Office in 2019

Semi-permanent setup of press corps on the west end of the north White House lawn, from where live media broadcasts with the White House are typically delivered

The White House press secretary, or a deputy, generally holds a weekday news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, which currently seats 49 reporters. Each seat is assigned to a news gathering organization, with the most prominent organizations occupying the first two rows. Reporters who do not have an assigned seat may stand. Often a smaller group of reporters known as the "press pool" is assembled to report back to their colleagues on events where the venue would make open coverage logistically difficult.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There can be different pools assembled on any given day to include a pool covering the president, vice president, first lady, and other prominent members of the staff.

When a new U.S. president is elected, some news organizations change their correspondents, most often to the reporter who had been assigned to cover the new president during the preceding campaign. For example, after the 2020 United States presidential election, Peter Doocy, Fox News' lead campaign reporter during the two years that Joe Biden campaigned for president,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> moved on to be the chief White House correspondent for the cable news channel,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> replacing John Roberts, who had been chief correspondent during the presidency of Donald J. Trump.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

History

The White House press corps had their first duties in the White House in the early 1900s. An urban legend exists of President Theodore Roosevelt noticing a group of correspondents in the rain looking for sources for their stories and inviting them into the White House. Subsequent historical research outlines how reporters were able to start with small stories in the White House and then grew their presence and influence over a span of many years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1977, a court ruled in Sherrill v. Knight that the White House had a limited right to deny a press pass.<ref name="ABA">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ABA fact check">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Foreign Policy">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, the White House withdrew the pass of Jim Acosta of CNN. CNN sued, and a federal judge temporarily ordered the pass to be restored, on grounds of due process.<ref name="Pass Guardian">Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2019, under a new standard, the White House revoked dozens of press passes.<ref name="CJR">Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2025, the White House announced that it would determine which outlets are allowed access to the president, instead of the White House Correspondents' Association.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Notable correspondents

The White House Correspondents' Association organizes the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room seating chart. Several outlets have had reporters covering the White House full time and a permanent assigned seat in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

• Jim Acosta<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Yamiche Alcindor<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Peter Alexander<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Peter Baker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Rebecca Ballhaus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jennifer Bendery<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Carl Bernstein<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Margaret Brennan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• David Brody<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kaitlan Collins<ref name="Salon">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Philip Crowther<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jeremy Diamond<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
• Sam Donaldson, ABC News
• Peter Doocy<ref name=FoxNews/>
• Devin Dwyer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Andrew Feinberg<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kristin Fisher<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=FoxNews>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Major Garrett<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Maggie Haberman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jacqui Heinrich<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Astead Herndon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Hallie Jackson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Weijia Jiang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jonathan Karl<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Annie Karni<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Tamara Keith<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Seung Min Kim<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mark Knoller<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Olivier Knox<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Michelle Kosinski<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mara Liasson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Zeke Miller<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• David Nakamura<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Ashley Parker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Ayesha Rascoe<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Dan Rather, CBS News
• Paula Reid<ref name="Salon" />
• Chanel Rion<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• John Roberts<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Michael D. Shear<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jake Tapper<ref name="WHCA2018Awards">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kayla Tausche<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Helen Thomas<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
• Ben Tracy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jake Turx<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Cecilia Vega<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kristen Welker<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Bob Woodward<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Press gallery
• Canberra Press Gallery
• Kremlin pool
• Press secretary
• White House Correspondents' Association

External links

• White House Correspondents' Association official website
• Collection of White House Press Pool reports