Reporters are used to the two-facedness, particularly in the Trump era: Republicans interact with them in the Capitol hallways, leak them information or spin behind closed doors, then go to the floor or a rally and whip up listeners against these “enemies within.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) did the two-step Tuesday, blocking a federal shield bill that would protect journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources due, in part, to reporters’ supposed “long record of endangering our troops.”
“Passage of this bill would turn the United Senate into the active accomplice of deep state leakers, traitors and criminals, along with the America-hating and fame-hungry journalists who help them out,” he said on the Senate floor.
He mused that it should be called “The Alexander Vindman Protection Act,” referring to the former NSC employee who testified against Donald Trump during his first impeachment.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the bill’s primary sponsor, posted on Bluesky: “I’m not taking my foot off the gas. I’ll keep trying to get this bill across the finish line to write much-needed protections for journalists and their sources into black letter law.”
Wyden also introduced the Free Speech Protection Act last week, a parallel press protection bill that would have shielded journalists from frivolous lawsuits. TPM broke the news of the legislation earlier this month.
Both bills face long odds without robust Republican support. But some advocacy groups are calling for creativity — and persistence — in the face of a looming Trump presidency.
“We need more than speeches about the PRESS Act’s importance. We need action,” Freedom of the Press Foundation Director of Advocacy Seth Stern said in a statement after Cotton objected to Wyden’s request to pass the bill via unanimous consent Tuesday. “Senate Democrats had all year to move this bipartisan bill and now time is running out. Leader Schumer needs to get the PRESS Act into law — whether by attaching it to a year-end legislative package or bringing it to the floor on its own — even if it means shortening lawmakers’ holiday break.”
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