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Himes Proposes Bill To Require On-Camera Media Briefings From White House

In response to the Trump administrations’s recent restrictions on press access at the White House, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th District) introduced a new bill that would require the White House to hold at least two televised press briefings per week.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes

Photo Credit: Meredith Guinness

Himes calls it the Free Press Act. 

"The White House has begun to dramatically, and in an historically unprecedented way, reduce the media and therefore the American people’s access to the thinking of the president. And that’s not healthy. So now is the time," Hime said via Twitter as he introduced the bill.

The White House has repeatedly banned news outlets from televising White House press briefings and is communicating more with reporters in areas not open to the public.

The administration has held sporadic on-camera press briefings, according to the the Huffington Post. 

Himes’ office analyzed data compiled by the American Presidency Project and found that President Donald Trump’s White House staff has had 71 briefings so far, compared with 114 under President Barack Obama, 74 under President George W. Bush, and 152 under President Bill Clinton at the same point in each of their presidencies, the the Huffington Post said.

Trump frequently criticizes the press, calling many media stories “fake news,” and rallying his supporters against journalists on the campaign trail, the HuffPost said. 

Click here for the story at the Huffington Post.

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