Whether the existence of unbridled discretion in a speech-licensing regime constitutes per se viewpoint discrimination or is merely assessed for constitutional reasonableness

The White House hard -pass policy governs journalists’ access to the White House Press Area, a critical venue for covering the President. The Biden Administration amended the policy in 2023 to require journalists generally to first obtain credentials from one of the Congressional press galleries before they may obtain a hard pass . But i n adjudicating applications for Congressional credentials, t he press galleries apply vague standards without decisional deadlines or an avenue for judicial review. Petitioner Simon Ateba, a 15 -year journalist and White House correspondent for Today News Africa, had his hard pass revoked under the new policy because he lacked Congressional credentials. He challenged the new policy under the First Amendment , but t he D.C. Circuit upheld the policy . The questions presented are: 1. Whether the ex istence of unbridled discretion in a speech -licensing regime is per se viewpoint discrimination or merely assessed for constitutional reasonable ness. 2. Whether decisional deadlines in a speech -licensing regime are constitutionally required when the regime is content -neutral . 3. Whether the availability of inferior alternatives in a speech -licensing scheme —such as, here, the fact that a journalist may be able to obtain a day pass to access the Press Area —cures a violation of the unbridled discretion doctrine . ii STATEMENT OF RELATED CASES The proceedings identified below are directly related to the abovecaptioned case in this Court. Ateba v. Jean -Pierre , et al. , No. 1:23-cv-2321JDB, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judgment entered December 7, 2023. Ateba v. Leavitt , et al. , No. 24 -5004, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . Judgment entered April 8, 2025. Ateba v. Leavitt , et al. , No. 24 -5004, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . Order denying petition for panel rehearing entered June 9, 2025. Ateba v. Leavitt , et al. , No. 24 -5004, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . Order denying petition for rehearing en banc entered June 9, 2025.