The White House is now deciding who can cover the president, reversing decades of precedent

The White House is stripping the White House Correspondents’ Association of its role in managing the White House Press Pool, taking control of deciding who will be a part of the small rotating group of journalists and photographers who accompany the president.

The White House is stripping the White House Correspondents’ Association of its role in managing the White House Press Pool, taking control of deciding who will be a part of the small rotating group of journalists and photographers who accompany the president. The press pool includes rotating representatives from television, print, radio, wire services and still photography outlets that travel with the president on Air Force One and in other small settings like the Oval Office or Roosevelt Room. They communicate information back to their counterparts at other outlets through what’s known as pool reports disseminated by email. Since the 1950s, the independent WHCA, made up of representatives from hundreds of different outelts, has managed who is part of the rotation (in coordination with the White House). That now will change, Leavitt said. “For decades, a group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced at Tuesday’s press briefing. Leavitt added, “Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team.” Leavitt said that legacy outlets will still be allowed to join but “new voices are going to be welcomed in, as well,” pointing to streaming services, radio hosts from across the country, and other new media outlets. She did not lay out timing or specific details surrounding the new rotation.