Trump admin moves to end taxpayer funding for PBS, NPR

The Trump administration is moving forward with its plans to cut all taxpayer funding for public broadcasting.

The New York Post reported Monday that the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, sent a memo to Congress requesting the elimination of the funding. He is also pushing to codify other budget cuts identified by the Department of Government Efficiency.

'Since day one, the Trump Administration has targeted waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending through executive action, DOGE review, and other efforts by departments and agencies.'

The "rescissions" plan would cut off $1.1 billion in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. Additionally, it would axe $8.3 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Vought's memo accuses CPB of a "lengthy history of anti-conservative bias" and USAID of "waste, fraud, and abuse," the Post reported.

CBP has argued, "Public media in the United States is a highly efficient public-private partnership that delivers a strong return on the taxpayers' investment. For every public dollar provided, stations raise nearly seven dollars from donors, underscoring their value to the communities they serve."

Vought noted that NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher called Trump a "deranged racist" and a "fascist." He also highlighted two PBS programs that included trans-identifying characters.

"Since day one, the Trump Administration has targeted waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending through executive action, DOGE review, and other efforts by departments and agencies. Congress has expressed strong interest in supporting those efforts, and requested the Administration transmit rescissions to the Hill for swift approval," Vought wrote.

"OMB recommends the Administration respond with two proposals to cut $9.3 billion," he continued. "The first includes a rescission of $8.3 billion in wasteful foreign aid spending (out of $22 billion) that does not expire in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The second is a separate rescission of all Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — which funds the politically biased public radio and public television system."

Lawmakers have 45 days to adopt or reject the rescission plan. The White House is reportedly optimistic it will pass.

Vought stated that without the rescissions, taxpayer funds would continue to be spent on many wasteful programs, including $9.4 million for "Championing Transformative Changes in Gender Norms," $6 million for Palestinian media and civic society support, and $3 million for Iraqi "Sesame Street," to name a few.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) proposed legislation in March that, if passed, would prevent NPR and PBS from receiving taxpayer funds.

Jackson introduced the bill, No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Service Act, after a heated House Oversight subcommittee hearing with Maher and PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger, where lawmakers pressed them about their outlets' political bias. Both Maher and Kerger insisted their outlets were unbiased.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the subcommittee's chairwoman, asserted that the hearing proved NPR and PBS are "taxpayer-funded PR arms of the Democrat Party" and therefore "don't deserve the American people's hard-earned money."

"NPR and PBS hate President Trump, his supporters, and the majority of Americans who sent us a mandate in 2024. They can hate us on their own dime," Greene declared.

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