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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is appealing a federal judge’s order requiring the White House to immediately begin providing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting at its press briefings when President Trump or Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt are speaking. The White House stopped using live ASL interpreters at briefings and other public events when President Trump began his second term in January.

In a court filing responding to U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s ruling, the DOJ requested clarification on which types of events should have ASL interpreting available. The department said it believes the services should be limited to regularly scheduled briefings and not other events where the president takes questions from the press.

It notified the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the White House’s current vendor agreement for ASL interpretative services requires 24 hours’ notice.

The DOJ said the White House is working to “establish a publicly accessible channel showing ASL interpretation that would be provided simultaneously with every press briefing subject to the injunction.”

The DOJ also said Judge Ali’s order should not apply to remarks made in a broad set of scenarios. “The White House does not understand ‘press briefings’ to encompass events with other purposes, such as a ceremony or a speech, at which the President may choose to take questions from the press,” the department said.

Judge Ali issued the preliminary injunction on November 4 and ordered the Trump administration to update the court on compliance by November 7.

“White House press briefings engage the American people on important issues affecting their daily lives—in recent months, war, the economy, and health care, and in recent years, a global pandemic,” Judge Ali wrote in the order. “The exclusion of Deaf Americans from that programming, in addition to likely violating the Rehabilitation Act, is clear and present harm that the court cannot meaningfully remedy after the fact.”

The government’s appeal of Judge Ali’s order is being filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and two Deaf men filed a lawsuit against Trump and Leavitt in May. The suit also names White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, along with the offices for president and vice president. It alleges the White House’s failure to provide ASL violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in programs conducted by the federal government.

“American Sign Language and accurate captioning are both essential to ensuring full and equal access to information,” said Bobbie Scoggins, NAD’s interim chief executive officer. “ASL and English are distinct languages, and captions alone cannot meet the needs of everyone in our community. The court’s ruling affirms what we have long known: equal access to information from the White House is not optional. We deserve the same timely, direct access to White House briefings as everyone else.”

NPR (11/11/25) By Kristin Wright