Senate Republicans Push to Reinstate Smith-Mundt Act Protections

Senate Republicans today reintroduced legislation to revive Cold War-era restrictions on U.S. government propaganda, proposing to restore key Smith-Mundt Act provisions under the new “Charlie Kirk Act.” The bill aims to reinstate a ban on domestic dissemination of government-produced foreign-audience content and add stronger guardrails against political influence.

Relevance of Restoring Propaganda Safeguards

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) unveiled the Charlie Kirk Act on the Senate floor, citing last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as proof that unfettered online misinformation can have deadly consequences. Lee argued that restoring Smith-Mundt restrictions would prevent the federal government from targeting American citizens with state-sponsored messaging.

Supporters note that the original 1948 Act prohibited the U.S. Information Agency-now the U.S. Agency for Global Media-from distributing its programming domestically, ensuring Americans could only view such content through media or academic filters. Those protections were loosened in 2013 under the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, enabling automatic online access.

Bill Provisions and Sponsorship

  • Restores the prohibition on domestic distribution of materials prepared for foreign audiences
  • Renames the revived statute the Charlie Kirk Act and bars federal agencies from using public funds for political messaging targeting U.S. audiences
  • Includes carve-outs for archival examination by Congress, media, and academia

The legislation is co-sponsored by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) and mirrors conservative petitions that have amassed over 81,400 signatures calling for such a restoration since mid-September.

Critics of the proposal emphasize that the Smith-Mundt Act never applied to private news organizations and did not regulate press content. Instead, it governed only government-funded broadcasters like Voice of America, which operate under strict accuracy standards. PolitiFact has debunked claims that the 2013 modernization “abolished” the Act or enabled state-sponsored propaganda campaigns against Americans.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are expected to challenge the bill, arguing that modern digital distribution makes any domestic ban effectively unenforceable and could undermine transparency in publicly funded media. A Senate committee markup is tentatively scheduled for next week.