Despite passing overwhelmingly in the House, and surviving an initial hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, forward progress on federal shield legislation has now been ground to a halt by Administration objections.
In a contentious second hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee in mid-September, Republicans on the Committee raised considerable objections to several elements of the bill, and prevented the bill from moving forward. While working to address Republican concerns, following a meeting with top national security officials, the Obama Administration, which had been working cooperatively with the bill sponsors, proposed changes to the legislation that effectively vitiated the bill’s protections for reporters.
The Administration language would remove a balancing test – between the public interest in disclosing a source and the public interest in protecting that source to promote the free flow of information to the public in cases where national security is concerned. It would also instruct judges to be deferential to executive branch assertions about whether a leak caused or was likely to cause such harm. The loss of these crucial protections and others made the modified bill unacceptable to the coalition of media interests, including MPA, that have been active advocates for a shield bill.
The Administration’s opposition is particularly disappointing given the President’s support for the legislation during his campaign, and his sponsorship of the bill while a Senator. Despite the setback, the coalition will now refocus its efforts on working with key players within the Administration, who have indicated a willingness to continue working, to find language that is acceptable for everyone involved, including key Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
