The White House announced Thursday that it will ban personal cell phones from the West Wing, starting next week.
"All personal devices for both guest and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing," a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. "Security and integrity of technology systems" are referenced as the motivation for the ban.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issues statement saying "all personal devices for both guests and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing." pic.twitter.com/r2P1fzfMem
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 4, 2018
The ban was imposed by chief of staff John Kelly for security reasons and is not connected to the repeated press leaks, administration officials told Bloomberg.
One official told Bloomberg there are too many devices connected to White House Wi-Fi, and added that personal devices are also not as secure as those issued by the federal government.
The rule did receive some backlash from aides who cite the government work phones can’t accommodate texting, which limits the ability to communicate with their families during busy days.
The policy change comes after excerpts from Michael Wolff’s upcoming tell-all book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House described a sense of displacement within the Trump administration. The White House has continued to push back against the reports of chaos and claims against the president.
One CBS News reporter noted similar measures were in place while former President Barack Obama was in office: reporters were not allowed to bring personal devices into areas of the West Wing.