Will Congress protect journalists from government spying? Why both parties agree on the issue
Reporters would gain important new protections under proposed congressional legislation with strong bipartisan support.
The Protect Reporters from Exploitive State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, would bar the federal government from requiring reporters to disclose sources.
Also protected would be information from third parties such as phone companies, a provision aimed at making it harder to spy on journalists. There are some exceptions where terrorism and threats of imminent violence or harm could be involved.
The legislation passed the House last year and got strong support in the Senate. A bipartisan group of senators is making a new push this year.
The bill came about after the Trump administration Justice Department secretly obtained information from reporters for The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Biden administration implemented rules barring such seizures.
But advocates for the measure want rules written into law, since that would make it more difficult for future administrations to repeat what Trump officials had done.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, led an unusually politically diverse group of House members as sponsors and supporters of the bill.
Kiley Wednesday called the bill important “for the protection of First Amendment freedoms.” He predicted its passage would “secure a core constitutional right and make our government more representative and accountable.”
The bill was approved unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee, usually a partisan battleground where Kiley and other Republicans have fought Democrats all year.
But on this bill, there was praise from both sides. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, the committee’s top Democrat, called the legislation “necessary and long overdue.” One of Kiley’s chief co-sponsors was Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, who’s led the fight to defend the Biden administration against a variety of Republican allegations.
The same bipartisan appeal is evident in the Senate. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, are the chief sponsors..
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