Why is Trump trying to scuttle proposed law to protect journalists?

In a rare show of unity earlier this year, Republicans and Democrats in the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to shield journalists, prohibiting federal government agencies like the FBI from forcing members of the media to reveal their sources.

However, president-elect Donald Trump threw a spanner into the works last week before the Senate was expected to put its seal of approval on the proposed law.

“Republicans must kill this bill!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform last week, without stating any reason for his opposition.

The legislation, which sailed through a deeply polarised lower chamber of US Congress, is now unlikely to get a nod of approval in the Senate — at least in its current form.

What is the reporter-shield bill?

Formally called the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act, the proposed legislation is a bipartisan federal shield law that will allow journalists to keep their sources confidential.

It also limits the federal government’s power to compel phone and internet companies to disclose certain protected information, except in extreme circumstances of terrorism or imminent violence.

According to Seth Stern, the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s advocacy director, the passage of the bill will let investigative journalists assure their sources that their identity will remain confidential.

If passed by the Senate, the bill will protect anyone who investigates, writes, edits or publishes news from the surveillance of investigative agencies like the FBI.

In addition, the law will protect even unconventional journalists and upstart outlets for which the expense of battling court cases can be an existential threat.

Why is the bill important?

Once it becomes an act of Congress, the legislation will stop federal investigative agencies from issuing subpoenas to journalists in order to identify whistle-blowers and leakers. The law will also bar federal judges from asking reporters to fork over confidential emails and other records.

Most of the 50 states in the US already have shield laws, which ensure that reporters have the right not to be compelled to testify or disclose sources and information in court.

But these state laws do not protect journalists from investigations carried out by federal agencies like the FBI.

Some federal courts have recognised in the past some of these protections under the First Amendment to the US Constitution that promises freedom of the press.

Yet, there has been no uniform standard that journalists can reliably count on to ensure the protection of their sources. In that sense, the proposed legislation aims to fill a glaring gap in legal protections for US investigative journalists.

The passage of the reporter-shield bill has become even more critical because the US House of Representatives passed last week another piece of legislation – derisively called nonprofit-killer bill – which will give the federal government the “unilateral authority” to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit media outlet without due process.

Civil liberties groups warn that the nonprofit-killer law can be weaponised by the incoming Trump administration to punish political opponents.

Why is Trump opposed to it?

Even though the president-elect stopped short of citing any reason for his opposition to the proposed law, the motive appears to be a recent interview of the Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

She asked members of the US Congress to pass the legislation before president-elect Trump returned to power in January.

“We know that Trump is interested in going after whistleblowers,” she said, adding that it was “absolutely essential” to protect journalists’ sources.

So far, at least three Republican Senators have come out in opposition to the proposed law.

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for mainstream news reporters. He has repeatedly called them “enemies of the people”.

In his first term as president, the Justice Department made a “significant devotion of resources” to go after whistleblowers and leakers within the Trump administration.

Quoting congressional staff, a recent story by The New York Times said the bill’s primary adversary on the Senate Judiciary Committee – where the reporter-shield bill has been stuck since January – is Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

A conservative Republican, Cotton gained public attention as an Army officer in 2006 while serving in Iraq by attacking The New York Times for its publication of an investigative article about a counterterrorism finances programme.

Kash Patel, a close aide that president-elect Trump is reportedly considering to lead the FBI, vowed to target journalists for prosecution in an interview last year.

“We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” he said, vowing to prosecute journalists “criminally or civilly”, he said.