Scoop: White House to take charge of briefing-room seating chart
Source: Axios
10 hours ago
The White House plans to impose its own seating chart for reporters in the briefing room in coming weeks, taking over a function long managed by the reporters themselves through the White House Correspondents' Association.
Why it matters: It's the latest — but likely not the last — effort by the White House to take a heavier hand in shaping who covers President Trump. In public and private, White House officials make it clear they are determined to upend decades-old press corps traditions.
Behind the scenes: Some members of the correspondents' association (WHCA) have been looking for ways to de-escalate. A senior White House official told Axios that a WHCA member had privately raised the possibility of changing the organization's bylaws so the sitting White House press secretary, currently Karoline Leavitt, always serves as WHCA president.
The tough-sell argument for the change: Rekindle collaboration between WHCA and the White House, and ensure buy-in from both. The official called the possibility an "interesting idea," but said they're "skeptical the association's board could pull it off." WHCA says it "exists to promote excellence in journalism as well as journalism education, and to ensure robust news coverage of the president and the presidency." Members could be expected to roundly reject the idea of a press secretary as their president.
The backstory: Prominent seats in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room are coveted because it's easier to catch the press secretary's eye to ask tough and probing questions. Those correspondents' interactions are also more likely to be showcased on TV.
In February, the White House began designating the pool of reporters who accompany Trump in tight spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One — another function the WHCA had controlled for generations. WHCA said in response: "In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps."
Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/03/30/white-house-press-briefing-seating-chart
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