CNN, the New York Times, Politico and the Los Angeles Times were among a group of news outlets excluded from a briefing with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Friday.

Some outlets historically friendly to President Trump including Breitbart, Fox News and the Washington Times were included. ABC, CBS and Bloomberg were also allowed to attend. Instead of holding the briefing in the White House press room for broadcast, Spicer invited select reporters to a discussion off-camera, known as a "gaggle," as Alex Mallin of ABC reported:

Daily press briefing moved to off-cam gaggle in @PressSec office. Reporters who were not approved entry being turned around. pic.twitter.com/KXrPFHQ3l5

— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) February 24, 2017 The Hill, a mainstream news website which published commentary that leans right politically, was among those outlets excluded. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.) In audio of the press gaggle released later in the day, Spicer said that the administration usually hasn't done a full briefing on days when the president has spoken, as he did Friday at CPAC.

Asked why CNN and the New York Times were not included in the gaggle, he said, "Because we had a pool and then we expanded it. It was my decision to expand the pool." "You know, obviously the president gave a very powerful speech today and our job is to make sure that we're responsive to folks in the media," Spicer said. "We're here all day. We've got a big staff and we want to make sure we answer your questions. We don't need to do everything on camera every day."

The New York Times called the moved "a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps." Executive Editor Dean Baquet released a statement in response to the incident:

Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties. We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national importance. Reporters from the Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the briefing because of the unusual circumstances.

Many observers of the situation shared a video of Spicer saying that the White House wouldn't ban specific media outlets, adding, "That's what makes a democracy a democracy vs. a dictatorship." FLASHBACK: @seanspicer in Dec. says Trump WH won't ban specific media outlets. "That's what makes a democracy a democracy vs a dictatorship" pic.twitter.com/qYd6xE4IwN

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 24, 2017 However, there's no reason to believe so far that any outlet is being permanently excluded from the White House or that the press secretary's actions Friday reflect some kind of broader policy.

