Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton Blocks Press Freedom Bill Trump Said GOP ‘Must Kill’

By Shauneen Miranda for States Newsroom

WASHINGTON — An effort to pass a sweeping measure aimed at protecting press freedoms was struck down in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night.

The journalism shield law — which would limit the federal government’s ability to force disclosure of journalists’ sources — drew strong objections from President-elect Donald Trump, who’s had a rather rocky relationship with the press.

Arkansas GOP Senator Tom Cotton blocked Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden’s request for unanimous consent to pass the bill, calling the legislation “a threat to U.S. national security and an insult to basic fairness in the principle of equality before the law.”

Though the U.S. House passed its version of the bill through voice vote earlier this year, Trump in November urged congressional Republicans “must kill this bill.”

Reaching unanimous consent — a process to fast-track the passage of bills in the Senate — appeared extremely unlikely given Trump’s sway in the Senate GOP conference.

Cotton, who’s the incoming Senate GOP conference chair, said the measure would “turn reporters 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 turn the Senate “into the active accomplice of deep-state leakers, traitors and criminals, along with the America-hating and fame-hungry journalists who helped them out.”

Bipartisan Backing

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

Wyden dubbed the bill “so common sense” and said past administrations on both sides of the aisle have “exploited the lack of a federal shield law to curtail the freedom of the press and in some cases, even jailed journalists who refused to break their journalistic ethics and reveal their sources.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed strong support of the bill and his desire to get it to the president’s desk.

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

The legislation would establish “appropriate limits on the federally compelled disclosure of information obtained as part of engaging in journalism” and would limit federal law enforcement surveillance of journalists.

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