Cotton blocks federal shield law for journalists

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) blocked a federal shield law that would protect journalists from revealing their sources and material to the government.

In the Senate on Tuesday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked for unanimous consent for the Senate to pass the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, known as the PRESS Act, and Cotton objected.

Cotton criticized the “liberal media” and said it doesn’t “deserve more protections.”

“The press badge doesn’t make you better than the rest of America or put you above the law,” he said on the Senate floor.

The Hill has reached out to Cotton’s office for comment, but in a post on the social platform X, he said the bill would “undermine” national security and “turn liberal reporters into a protected class.”

“No American citizen should be afforded the privilege provided in this bill, least of all the media,” Cotton said in the post.

Last month, President-elect Trump urged Republicans to “KILL THIS BILL,” despite it passing the House with bipartisan support.

Wyden, who wrote the Senate version of the bill, was looking to pass the legislation without a roll call, but Cotton objected.

The Hill has reached out to Wyden’s office for comment, but Deadline reported that he plans to continue conversations with Cotton about the bill.

Earlier Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) posted online about the bill, telling Senate Republicans to “not get in the way.”

“This bill would protect journalists against overreaching government surveillance,” Schumer wrote on X. “It would ensure reporters can’t be legally required to disclose sources or research files or hand over data held by phone and internet companies.”