CNN Assigns New White House and Capitol Hill Reporters

CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta pushes away the arm of a White House intern after he refuses to hand over the microphone, during a press conference at the White House on Nov. 7, 2018. C-SPAN

CNN announced new reporters on Monday for the White House and Capitol Hill in preparation for the new administration.

Former chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta will serve as CNN’s chief domestic correspondent and will anchor on weekends, the network said in a statement.

The network said it was expanding a weekday program hosted by Jake Tapper to two hours. Tapper will also serve as the network’s lead anchor for all major Washington events.

Acosta joined the network in 2007 and has been chief White House correspondent since 2018.

He is widely known as the stubborn reporter who repeatedly questioned President Donald Trump, refusing to pass the microphone on, in a press conference in the White House.

Conservative strategist Chris Barron called Acosta a “performance artist” in an interview with Fox News, and said the change is “the most glaring.”

“Acosta will probably get shipped off to cover Mar-a-Lago where he can yell at Trump from outside,” Barron joked.

After the encounter at the White House, his press pass was revoked but eventually restored when CNN argued that it violated Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights.

Amber Athey, The Spectator’s Washington editor, told Fox that it was suspicious that CNN replaced Acosta when he’s been a household name known for aggressively resisting Trump.

“It certainly seems odd that CNN is pulling Acosta from the White House rotation right as a Democratic president is set to take office. He insisted repeatedly that his style of shouting questions, delivering monologues, and heckling White House officials was merely about holding powerful people accountable for their actions,” Athey said.

“Is CNN effectively saying that they don’t want to hold the Biden administration accountable in the same way?” she added.

According to CNN’s announcement, Kaitlan Collins has been promoted to chief White House correspondent, and Phil Mattingly to senior White House correspondent.