Donald Trump Gives Republicans an Order Over Press Freedom Bill

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a directive to congressional Republicans, telling them to tank a bipartisan bill that would protect journalists from being spied on by the government.
“REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. Accompanying his post was a recent segment from PBS News about the bill’s purpose and where it currently stands in Congress.
The Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support earlier this year. The bill’s sponsors, Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin and Republican Representative Kevin Kiley, celebrated its passage in January, with Raskin saying that the vote moved the U.S. “closer to establishing our first federal press shield law ever.”
“This awesome bipartisan vote at a time of party polarization underscores the binding power and universal appeal of freedom of the press as a leading constitutional principle,” Raskin added.
Kiley echoed his colleague from across the aisle, saying that presidential administrations from both parties “have unjustly targeted journalists and used compulsory process to obtain information from them about their sources. Most states have protected journalists from such interference, and it is past time for Congress to do so as well.”
If it were signed into law, the PRESS Act would protect journalists from being surveilled by federal law enforcement, and it would also restrict the government’s ability to compel journalists to reveal their sources.
Jodie Ginsberg, the CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, stressed the importance of passing the bill in an interview with PBS News.
“It’s really important that we have that federal shield law to protect journalists at the federal level. We know that Trump is interested in going after whistleblowers, people who leak, and it’s absolutely essential that they are protected and that journalists’ sources are protected and journalists are allowed to do their job,” she said.
Trump has reportedly advocated for those who “leaked” information about his administration to be executed. He’s also said that if he was reelected, he would push for reporters to be jailed and revoke the broadcast licenses of news organizations whose coverage he disapproved of.
Although the PRESS Act passed with broad bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, it’s currently pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A number of press freedom advocates and media-rights organizations sent letters to the House and Senate in October urging Congress to pass the PRESS Act before Congress adjourns for the year.
“The PRESS Act is a reasonable, common-sense measure to preserve the free flow of information to the public, as evidenced by its broad bipartisan support and the fact that 49 states and the District of Columbia have similar protections,” the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said in its letters. “All reflect the reality that the press cannot fulfill its constitutionally recognized watchdog role without some safeguard for confidential source identities and sensitive newsgathering material.”