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SENATE GOP SET TO EVISCERATE PUBLIC MEDIA FUNDING
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Stephen Prager
July 16, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ The bill threatens "emergency alerts that save lives, local
journalism that informs communities, and educational tools that
support families, job seekers, and teachers," according to Protect My
Public Media. _
People participate in a rally to call on Congress to protect funding
for US public broadcasters, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and
National Public Radio (NPR), outside the NPR headquarters in
Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025., (Photo:Saul Loeb/AFP)
The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate is on the verge of stripping
more than a billion dollars from the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting, which could decimate local news stations.
On Tuesday, the chamber voted 50-50, with a tie broken by Vice
President JD Vance to move forward with debate on the package, which
is underway as of Wednesday morning.
Three Republicans—Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska), and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—joined Democrats in
opposition.
If passed, the bill would codify President Donald Trump's illegal
impoundment
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more than $9 billion in funds that were already appropriated by
Congress.
Defenders of public media have mobilized a last-ditch effort to stop
the bill, which strips more than $1.1 billion from the CPB, which
includes cuts to _NPR__ and _PBS_._
The progressive group Our Revolution on Tuesday delivered more than
70,000 petitions to the Senate urging them it to vote against the
bill's advancement.
"This is a coordinated, authoritarian attempt to silence dissent and
dismantle the public good—not 'fiscal policy,'" the group said in a
post on social media.
Despite the bill's advancement to the debate stage, the group Protect
My Public Media [[link removed]] says that the
cuts can still be stopped.
"Changes to the bill are still possible," the group said. "Now is the
time to urge your senators to remove the proposal targeting public
media from the package."
"Taking back this funding—just $1.60 per person per year—wouldn't
simply force stations to scale back," the group continued. "It would
dismantle services that millions rely on every day: emergency alerts
that save lives, local journalism that informs communities, and
educational tools that support families, job seekers, and teachers. In
many rural and underserved areas, the loss could be total. Some
stations may be forced off the air entirely, leaving entire
communities without access to essential information."
Legislators have similarly warned about the bill's devastating effects
on local news.
This was highlighted in a letter
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Tuesday by Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Grace
Meng (D-N.Y.), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke
(D-N.Y.), and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat
(D-N.Y.).
"The federal government is the largest single funding source for
public television and radio stations," the letter said. "CPB's
elimination would decimate public media infrastructure, as the vast
majority of its funding goes directly to local stations, many of which
rely on it for over half their operating budgets."
More than 70% of CPB funding goes to local news and radio stations,
according to its website [[link removed]]. This funds more
than 1,500 locally-owned public radio and television stations. Around
half of those are in rural areas, which are often "news deserts"
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lack other sources of regular coverage.
Murkowski, one of three Republicans who voted against the bill
Tuesday, noted this at a Senate Appropriations hearing last month.
Speaking about public news stations in her home state of Alaska, she
said, "lmost to a number, they're saying that they will go under if
public broadcasting funds are no longer available to them."
In May, NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher disputed
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Republican characterization of these cuts as a cost-saving measure.
"This is not about balancing the federal budget," she said. "The
appropriation for public broadcasting, including NPR and PBS,
represents less than 0.0001% of the federal budget."
Rather, she said, it's an investment in a local news ecosystem that
pays off in the long-run.
"Every $1 of federal funding generates $7 from local sources," she
said, "enabling stations to produce local journalism, support local
and regional music and arts, and develop creative, informative, and
entertaining programming for distribution across the nation."
The plan to cut public broadcast funding is overwhelmingly unpopular.
In a poll conducted by Data for Progress last week, just 21% of voters
said they wanted to defund public broadcasting including NPR and PBS,
compared with 67% who said they wanted to either keep funding at its
current levels or increase it.
The Senate vote on whether to pass the rescissions package could take
place Wednesday following debate and amendment votes. Should it pass,
it will return to the House, where the deadline for its passage is
Friday.
Though it moved on to the debate stage Tuesday, just one more
Republican defector could force the bill's cuts to public broadcasting
to be revised.
"Now it's our job to speak up and make sure the Senate hears us," said
Protect My Public Media in a final urgent plea. "Pulling back support
from local stations would leave communities less safe, children less
prepared for school, and all of us less connected."
_Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams._
* Corporation for Public Broadcasting
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* budget cutbacks
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* US Senate
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