Politics

White House is cracking down on personal cellphone use

Key Points
  • The White House will bar staff and guests from using personal cellphones in the West Wing starting next week.
  • Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the move is because the administration wants to uphold "security and integrity" of White House systems.
White House Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President Dan Scavino Jr. shows a message on his iPhone to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly as U.S. President Donald Trump tours the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center on October 13, 2017 in Beltsville, Maryland.
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The White House will bar staff and guests from using personal phones in the White House starting next week.

The devices will no longer be allowed because "the security and integrity of the technology systems at the White House is a top priority for the Trump administration," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Thursday.

Some White House aides expressed concerns about being able to text family members during busy days, as their work phones cannot text, Bloomberg reported.

"Staff will be able to conduct business on their government-issued devices and continue working hard on behalf of the American people," Sanders said.

President Donald Trump and other White House officials have repeatedly decried leaks of information from the administration to journalists. The decision was "not about leaks," Sanders added, according to The Associated Press.

The press secretary said that individuals would have a place to store phones at the West Wing entrance. The statement didn't address whether Trump would be exempt from doing so.

Personal cellphones are barred in many sensitive areas across the U.S. government.