As Justice “Goes to War with the Press,” the PRESS Act Is Needed Now More Than Ever

A free press depends on the ability of journalists to gather information without fear that the government will seize their records, expose their confidential sources, or use surveillance for fishing expeditions. Recent reports about aggressive Justice Department leak investigations tied to coverage of Iran should remind Congress why passage of the bipartisan Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying, or PRESS Act, is needed now more than ever. 
 
A Bipartisan Problem
 
The Justice Department is firing off subpoenas right and left to reporters and news organizations over stories involving internal deliberations about Iran policy and military action. Targets of these investigations include The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Axios, and other major outlets. 
 
These subpoenas represent an erosion of principle. For decades, the Justice Department and its prosecutors were cautious about using the law to breach the confidential notes and sources of journalists. That discretion ended in 2009 when the Obama Justice Department investigated a Fox News reporter as a co-conspirator in an alleged violation of the Espionage Act. The Obama Administration also secretly helped itself to the phone records of Associated Press reporters.
 
Not to be outdone, the first Trump administration secretly snooped on the phone records of reporters at the Washington Post, the New York Times, and CNN. The second Trump administration is now, in the words of Andrew McCarthy in National Review, “going to war with the press.” McCarthy writes that the Justice Department is “flexing its muscles to squeeze reporters into giving up their sources, threatening to imprison them if they don’t.” McCarthy, a former prosecutor, offers this “word of caution” for those who oppose this bill. He writes:
 
“The reason press-shield legislation has not gotten traction, even though we’ve always had tension between the public’s security and its need to be informed, is that the DOJ has generally been seen as a responsible arbiter of that tension. Not always, but generally. As the executive branch has become more imperious during the past 20 years, that assumption has eroded. I suspect we’re about to see whether there’s anything left of it.”
 
A Bipartisan Solution
 
The House unanimously passed the PRESS Act in 2024 because lawmakers across the political spectrum recognized that press freedom is not a partisan issue. With the Justice Department under administrations of both the left and the right using national security as a pretext to threaten reporters, bipartisan support for the PRESS Act continues to grow.
 
What would this law do? Just as important, what would it not do?
 
The PRESS Act would prohibit the federal government from compelling journalists and communications providers to disclose protected newsgathering materials, but with reasonable exceptions. It does not grant blanket immunity to journalists. Contrary to some critics, the bill does not shield reporters who commit crimes. It does not prevent investigations into genuine national security threats. It simply requires the government to meet meaningful standards before intruding into the newsgathering process. 
 
Consider that throughout American history, some of the most important reporting on government misconduct, military operations, intelligence failures, and executive overreach has depended on confidential sourcing. Without such protections, many stories of immense public value would never have been published.
 
Congress should not wait for another escalation in the conflict between government secrecy and press freedom. The current controversy surrounding Iran reporting is merely the latest reminder that constitutional protections cannot depend on the goodwill of whichever administration holds power.
 
It is time for the House and the Senate to pass the PRESS Act.​

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