Fox News White House correspondent blasts new pool policy

Jacqui Heinrich, Fox News's senior White House correspondent, sharply criticized the White House's decision to take over the press pool from the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), which has governed the press pool for decades.

Heinrich, in a post on X, pushed back on press secretary Karoline Leavitt's claim that "we are giving the power back to the people" by taking control of the White House press pool, which is a small group of reporters that travels with and covers the president's daily activities.

“This move does not give the power back to the people - it gives power to the White House,” Heinrich said in a post, responding to Leavitt’s statement.

“The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps,” she added.

Heinrich, who is part of the WHCA board, explained the practical reasons the WHCA has had control of the press pool for decades.

“WHCA has determined pools for decades because only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have - such as staffing - in order to get the President's message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour,” Heinrich wrote.

Leavitt announced Tuesday that, moving forward, the White House press pool would be determined by administration officials. Traditionally, the press pool has been coordinated by the WHCA, to which White House officials across multiple administrations have traditionally given deference.

“It’s beyond time the White House press pool reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025,” Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters.

The goal, Leavitt said, is to give new or alternative media companies greater access to the administration while still keeping certain “legacy” outlets in the rotation.

Heinrich noted that the WHCA, in every administration, has “advocated to expand access to news events, beyond just the pool.”

The White House traditionally determines whether an event is “open press” or “pool only”— which is often based on security or space constraints, Heinrich said.

But then it’s the WHCA’s job, in those scenarios, “to ensure that the pool includes representation from each constituency (radio, tv, wires, print, stills, new media) to get the news out to the fullest possible extent,” Heinrich said.

“Our job is to advocate for the MOST access possible,” she added.