Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Tuesday again pushed for passage of a House-approved bipartisan bill that would force journalists and news companies to disclose sources and other information to federal authorities. I prevented it.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) signed the “Protecting Reporters from Exploitative State Espionage (Press) Act”, which prohibits the federal government from forcing journalists and news companies to disclose certain information. or threats of violence). Unanimous vote of consent.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York argued Tuesday that passing the Press Act is “more important than ever now, as we’re hearing that some in the previous administration were going to go after news organizations in some way.” . A reference to Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to jail journalists who do not reveal the source of the leak. President Trump, who has called the press “the enemy of the people,” has repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to “repeal this bill.”
Cotton, who blocked a vote on the bill in December 2022, again opposed the bill, a move that would prevent its swift passage. Republicans called the bill a “threat to national security” and “the greatest giveaway to the liberal press in American history.”
The advocacy group Defending Rights and Dissent lamented that “Congress has abdicated its responsibility to take substantive steps to protect the constitutional right to freedom of the press.”
But Seth Stern, advocacy director at the Press Freedom Foundation, said there are ways Senate Democrats could pass the press law before Republicans take control of the Senate next month.
Senate Democrats have been working all year to pass this bipartisan bill, but now time is running out. Leader Schumer must pass the Press Act, whether attached to a year-end bill or brought to the floor on its own, even if it means shortening lawmakers’ vacations. I hope today is a harbinger of more meaningful action to come.
After Tuesday’s setback, Wyden vowed “we’re not going to let up on the gas.”
“I will continue to push this bill to the finish line to write much-needed protections for journalists and their sources into the Black Paper Act,” he added.
