Fresh from blocking the Philadelphia Eagles' White House visit, US President Donald Trump is asking an appeals court to restore his power to block critics on Twitter.
Government lawyers representing Trump and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino filed paperwork on Monday to appeal a federal judge's ruling last month that said blocking people from the @realDonaldTrump account violates the First Amendment.
The paperwork did not list grounds for the appeal. Trump and Scavino's lawyers did not immediately respond to messages.
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald made clear in her May 23 ruling that people have a right to reply directly to politicians who use their accounts as public forums to conduct official business. The decision — the most prominent in a string of similar cases against public officials — could mark a turning point for constituents interacting with government employees on social media.
Buchwald's ruling stopped short of ordering Trump to unblock users, but one user who sued Trump said her access was restored on Monday.