Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee pushed back against the Trump administration’s bid to kill $9 billion in federal funding that Congress already has approved for public broadcasting and international aid programs.
The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation Thursday to claw back two years of federal funding for public media outlets.
IPM’s executive director Moss Bresnahan spoke to IPM News’ Kimberly Schofield about what a loss in public support could mean for the station’s radio, television and digital programs.
A simple majority of lawmakers in each chamber must approve what’s technically known as a “rescission request” within 45 days for it to become law.
PBS and a public television station in rural Minnesota filed suit on Friday against President Trump over his executive order demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting kill all funding for the network.
NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed suit Tuesday morning in federal court against the Trump White House over the president’s executive order purportedly barring the use of Congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS. “It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But
President’s Trump order seeking to cut off funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting affects about 1,500 stations around the country including many in Illinois. But it’s likely headed for the courts or for drama in Congress.
Now, public radio stations are being targeted for cuts by President Donald Trump, who this week signed an executive order aimed at slashing public subsidies to NPR and PBS, alleging “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting.
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.
President Trump opened up a new front in his assault on public media on Monday, asserting that he was removing three of the five board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress outlining its intent to end nearly all federal funding for public media, which includes NPR and PBS, according to a White House official who spoke to NPR.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher and her counterpart at PBS, Paula Kerger, appeared Wednesday before a House subcommittee on government efficiency, where they defended public broadcasting against accusations by Republican lawmakers of political bias.
PBS, NPR and their respective local stations are funded in part by a $535 million appropriation provided by Congress through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in addition to substantial foundation, corporate and viewer donation support.
President Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.
US Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana and Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry have already introduced bills to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.