Congress did not heed GWAR’s warning: Early Thursday, the Senate passed legislation that included funding cuts to NPR and PBS.
The 51-48 vote approved the White House’s request to claw back $8 billion in foreign assistance programs and $1.1 billion in money to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, per The New York Times. The House of Representatives, which passed a similar version of the legislation last month, is expected to approve the final bill this week and send it to Donald Trump’s desk for signing.
NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from the federal government, while its 1,300 member stations get an average of 8% to 10% of their support through the CPB. PBS and its affiliated stations rely on CPB for about 15% of their revenue. Public media representatives have warned that federal budget cuts would disproportionately affect rural outlets and regions underserved by commercial broadcasters.
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“Eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have a devastating impact on American communities across the nation that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information,” NPR said in a statement when the Trump administration first announced their intention to cut funding to public media.
“We serve the public interest. It’s not just in our name — it’s our mission. Across the country, locally owned public media stations represent a proud American tradition of public-private partnership for our shared common good.”
In a floor speech prior to the Senate’s vote, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer addressed the potential impact of the cuts, stating, “Tens of millions of Americans rely on public broadcast for weather alerts, local news, keeping track of City Hall, educational programming, and so much more. This affects most badly rural America, including Native communities. And these cuts couldn’t come at a worse time: the floods in Texas remind us that speedy alerts and up-to-the-minute forecasts can mean the difference between life and death. And for millions, public radio and local TV are sometimes the only way to stay up to date.”
For its part, the Trump administration and its Republican allies have argued that NPR and PBS exhibit a left-wing bias in their coverage and programming, and that the federal government should not be subsidizing their funding.
