U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly’s decision keeps the administration from excluding the journalists while the case moves toward trial. More than 70 reporters were affected when the White House revoked the outlets’ credentials. The organizations sued last month, and Kelly ordered the administration on Sept. 24 to restore their access while the dispute continued.

Kelly wrote that President Donald Trump’s public remarks indicated the decision was intended to pressure the outlets to change how they report on him, rather than to address a national security threat. Stripping credentials in response to coverage, he concluded, could deter reporters from doing their work and prevent them from observing White House events firsthand alongside competitors who retained access.

The Justice Department argued that national security concerns and problems with the outlets’ reporting justified the administration’s actions, and that the courts should not intervene. Kelly rejected those arguments in this case, noting that the administration raised national security in court filings after the credential revocations and did not give the outlets a meaningful chance to respond beforehand.

The judge did not rule that the government can never restrict press access for security reasons. He said the decision should not be read as dismissing concerns about accuracy or as preventing the government from acting when classified information is unlawfully disclosed. But he found that the administration’s explanation and process did not justify taking away credentials from journalists who had already been granted access.

Theodore Boutrous, the First Amendment lawyer representing the three news organizations, said in a statement that Trump had publicly acknowledged seeking to punish reporting he disliked. He called the resulting harm to the outlets, press freedom and the public profound. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ruling leaves unresolved a separate dispute over CNN’s access to smaller settings, including Air Force One and the Oval Office, where the full press corps cannot fit. CNN is part of a rotating video pool with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC that shares the work of recording the president at public appearances. The administration has at times prevented CNN from serving as the pool’s representative, including on a trip to Tennessee, despite the earlier order restoring the network’s general White House access.

The case comes amid a broader series of disputes between the administration and news organizations, including restrictions on Pentagon access and investigations involving major television networks. Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, also ruled against the administration during Trump’s first term in a separate case involving its effort to bar CNN correspondent Jim Acosta.

The Tuesday decision is not a final judgment on the lawsuit. It establishes that, for now, the administration cannot use the credentialing system to retaliate against these outlets for coverage it considers unfavorable.