U.S. Rep. Jason Crow is set to lead the charge in the House as congressional Democrats draft legislation aimed at deterring officials in the Trump administration from curtailing free speech.
The move comes as President Donald Trump doubles down on his administration’s efforts to push late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Crow, a Democrat who represents the Aurora-centered 6th Congressional District, said ABC’s recent suspension of the comedian over comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — before he was reinstated Tuesday — sped up plans to bring the bill.
“We’ve been talking about this for some time,” Crow said in an interview, “but certainly we‘ve seen a huge acceleration of efforts by this administration to silence dissent and to impinge on people’s First Amendment rights — so we similarly have expedited our efforts to send a very strong message (that) that’s not acceptable.”
He and the other lawmakers unveiled the NOPE — short for No Political Enemies — Act late last week, a day after Disney-owned ABC suspended Kimmel amid pressure from federal regulators and local TV affiliates.
The bill, which has not yet been introduced in Congress, would in part underscore existing constitutional speech protections, according to a description of its details. It would codify in federal law protections for people facing litigation because of their speech, and it would give an explicit private right of action to sue.
In a nod to a recent Trump threat, it would also provide legal avenues for American nonprofits targeted by the administration.
The bill may face a difficult path in Congress, where Democrats are in the minority in both chambers. Though some Republicans criticized the government’s pressure on ABC, there are not yet any GOP lawmakers among the bill’s supporters.
Crow will back the bill in the House. In the interview Wednesday, Crow didn’t have a timeline for when the bill would be introduced but said it was being fast-tracked. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, will carry a companion measure in the Senate.
The bill will likely include language akin to Colorado’s and other states’ anti-SLAPP laws, Crow said. Those laws generally protect journalists and members of the public against frivolous, speech-related lawsuits, allowing early dismissal of such cases. Previous efforts to pass a federal anti-SLAPP measure have been unsuccessful.
The legislation, if passed, would help codify existing speech protections that have been established by court precedent, said Alan Chen, a professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law who focuses on free speech. It would also provide “front-end protection from government agencies abusing their authority,” he said.
“For the most part, it mirrors what the law already is, while reinforcing that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in violating any of these rights — which, again, should be obvious,” Chen said of Democrats’ plans for the bill. “But sometimes, agencies need a reminder.”
The NOPE Act’s drafting comes as Trump and his administration have increasingly sought to crack down on news reporting and public comments the president does not like, or which he alleges are inaccurate.
Lambasting the media and his critics has been a constant of Trump’s political career, but his return to the White House has brought more direct attempts to punish perceived opponents. He’s filed lawsuits against outlets that have reported upon him critically, and federal immigration officials have targeted students who are vocally pro-Palestinian. Trump barred the Associated Press from news events after the outlet refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” as his administration had renamed it.
After the assassination of Kirk, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, promised consequences for ABC if the network didn’t take action against Kimmel for the comedian’s remarks about Kirk and his supporters. Kimmel’s show was subsequently suspended by ABC.
Carr’s comments drew broad criticism, including from Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz.
The suspension ended Tuesday night. But Kimmel’s return prompted Trump to threaten more litigation, and Carr said the FCC would continue with its congressional mandate to ensure broadcast TV serves the public interest.
“If people don’t like it,” he said at a conference Monday, “they can go to Congress and change the law.”
Chen said congressional Democrats’ legislation is an effort by Congress’ minority party to wield legislative power and respond to the pressures on the First Amendment. Congressional committees and members could more directly launch investigations, hold up funding or demand answers from federal officials, he said.
“When legislators seek to protect free-speech rights that are already protected under the First Amendment, what they’re usually signaling is they think a couple different things,” Chen said. “They’re worried courts won’t do their job enforcing the First Amendment. The second is … to have a more systemic or systematic approach to deterring violations of the First Amendment.”
The expected bill would also seek to provide due process for nonprofits that “the government attempts to label as criminal or terrorist organizations,” according to Crow’s office. Trump told reporters last week that he wanted to designate a range of unspecified groups as domestic terrorist organizations, which — among other things — could strip those groups of their tax-exempt status.
While more standard attempts to remove that status can be challenged in court, the terrorism designation would be much more difficult for a nonprofit to undo.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday targeting the left-wing antifascist movement, known as antifa, threatening “investigatory and prosecutorial action” against those who financially support it.
His order said he was declaring antifa a “domestic terrorist organization” — a designation that does not actually exist under U.S. law. Anti-fascism, like fascism itself, is a broad political ideology rather than a specific organization, and the U.S. does not have a domestic terrorism law.
The New York Times contributed to this story.
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