Republican US Senator Tom Cotton blocks press freedom bill. Trump said the Republican Party must kill – Missouri Independent

WASHINGTON An attempt to pass a sweeping measure to protect press freedom was rejected by the U.S. Senate late Tuesday.

The Journalism Shield Act, which would limit the federal government's ability to force the disclosure of journalists' sources, has drawn strong objections from President-elect Donald Trump, whose relationship with the press has been rather rocky.

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton blocked Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden's request for unanimous consent to pass the bill, calling the legislation a threat to U.S. national security and of insult to the fundamental fairness of the principle of equality before the law.

Although the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the bill by voice vote earlier this year, Trump in November urged congressional Republicans to reject the bill.

Reaching unanimous consent to expedite passage of the bills in the Senate seemed extremely unlikely given Trump's influence in the GOP Senate conference.

Cotton, who is the new chairman of the Republican Senate Conference, said the measure would turn journalists into a protected class free to hold, share and publish highly classified and dangerous information that no other American is allowed to possess.

He also said the bill would make the Senate the active accomplice of deep state leakers, traitors and criminals, as well as the America-hating, fame-hungry journalists who aided them.

Bipartisan support

Wyden introduced a companion bill to the House bill in June 2023. Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, along with Democratic Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, co-sponsored the bill.

Wyden called the bill very common sense and said previous administrations on both sides of the aisle have exploited the lack of a federal protective law to restrict press freedoms and, in some cases, have even imprisoned journalists who refused to violate their journalistic ethics and reveal their sources.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed strong support for the bill and his desire to bring it to the president's desk.

No democracy can survive without a free, open and thriving press, Schumer said on the Senate floor.

The legislation would establish appropriate limits on the federal government's forced disclosure of information obtained in the course of journalism and limit surveillance of journalists by federal law enforcement.

Dozens of media organizations and press advocacy groups have pushed for passage of the legislation, with press rights organizations expressing concerns about Trump's imminent return to the Oval Office, amid threats he made against journalists.

Last updated at 6:31 p.m., December 10, 2024

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