But for jittery Washington reporters, it was yet another salvo from an administration that has shown an unusual willingness to berate and belittle the news media, at the behest of a president-elect who has floated the idea of rolling back libel protections and, in a volcanic appearance last week, refused to take questions from CNN after it ran a story he did not like.

The sense of alarm was clear last week when more than 100 reporters showed up to a routine meeting of the White House Correspondents’ Association. The group, which promotes reporters’ access to presidential administrations, pledged to be vigilant about responding to any erosion of press freedoms. “We are all in this together,” said Jeff Mason of Reuters, the group’s president.

Since the 1970s, reporters from broadcast, print and radio outlets have worked in small cubicles on the former site of a West Wing swimming pool. The reporters can walk, without a security escort, to the offices of White House press aides and the press secretary to check in on developments or to pick up the latest gossip.

It was not clear on Sunday whether the administration’s idea to relocate the White House press corps might extend to evicting reporters from their office space. “That hasn’t been determined,” Mr. Priebus told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Later, on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Priebus said, “The only thing that’s been discussed is whether or not the initial press conferences are going to be in that small press room.”

Few presidents relish sharing their home with reporters who are responsible for questioning their every move. But journalists have been granted space in the White House since the William McKinley administration, and their presence is seen as a potent symbol of a president’s willingness to be held to account.