Senate committee backtracks on limits to press access

Reporters at the Capitol were informed Tuesday that they were no longer allowed to videotape interviews with senators in hallways unless they received permission, because of what appeared to be a change in rules by Senate Republicans.

Such a change in years of precedent, stemming from Senate Rules Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, would break long-standing precedent concerning press access in the upper chamber and surrounding Senate office buildings. But hours after the change was imposed, backlash from reporters prompted that directive to be backtracked. 

Blair Bailey, communications director for Shelby, said there "were never any changes made," and the committee was "examining what the rules were."

"All reporters should continue to operate the same way they were yesterday," and the day before yesterday, and the day before that, Bailey told CBS News, confirming specifically that cameras will continue to be permitted in hallways without prior permission from the committee. 

The Radio-Television Correspondents' Association, which protects the rights and privileges of broadcast reporters, blasted the initial decision on Twitter, saying it "strenuously objects" to a "blockade of reporters' access to interviews" with senators in the Capitol and Senate office buildings.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, the ranking member on the Rules Committee, expressed outrage, but suggested not much was being changed. She said she was told it was a "staff inquiry" and she said Shelby told her he would "never make any changes without consulting [her]."

In a statement, Shelby denied that the Rules Committee had implemented any changes to existing rules governing press coverage.

"The committee has been working with the various galleries to ensure compliance with existing rules in an effort to help provide a safe environment for members of Congress, the press corps, staff, and constituents as they travel from Senate offices to the Capitol. Once again, no additional restrictions have been put in place by the Rules Committee," Shelby said.

Klobuchar tweeted about the situation.

Klobuchar said press access is critical at a time when Republicans are working on their bill to repeal and replace Obamacare behind closed doors and as the Russian investigation unfolds.

Some Democrats suggested that Republicans were trying to limit press access because their health care bill is being crafted in secret.

While mostly Democrats spoke out against the decision, some Republicans also expressed opposition. 

CBS News' Alan He and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.

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• First Amendment