On Tuesday, President Trump escalated his confrontation with prominent cultural institutions by formally requesting Congress to rescind $1.1 billion designated for public broadcasters over the next two years.
This significant request requires a simple majority from lawmakers in both the House and Senate. For it to be enacted within the stipulated 45 days, Republicans can afford minimal dissent due to their slim majorities in both chambers.
The groundwork for this request was laid earlier in the spring during a House subcommittee hearing, where Trump’s Republican supporters accused NPR and PBS of exhibiting partisan bias.
This hearing allowed lawmakers to advocate for cutting federal funding that flows to local stations and public media networks through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger articulated the potential fallout, emphasizing that such cuts would ravage public broadcasting stations, especially in rural settings.
“Without PBS member stations, Americans will lose unique local programming and emergency services in times of crisis,” she stated.
Kerger expressed pride in PBS’s role in showcasing important issues and voices often neglected by commercial media.
The proposed cuts form part of a broader clawback package from the White House, totaling $9.4 billion and including reductions in foreign aid.
House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the role of billionaire Elon Musk’s government efficiency task force in pinpointing various programs deemed wasteful or outdated.
“We thank Elon Musk and his DOGE team for identifying a wide range of wasteful, duplicative, and outdated programs, and House Republicans are eager to eliminate them,” Johnson declared, vowing swift action on the rescission request.
However, the Senate might pose a challenge. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) mapped a broader concern by highlighting the cuts included in the request, notably to the PEPFAR program established by President George W. Bush, celebrated as one of the world’s most successful public health initiatives.
“I will not support a cut in PEPFAR, which has saved literally millions of lives and has been extremely effective and well run,” Collins stated, hinting at her reluctance to support the cuts without explicitly addressing public broadcasting funding.
The rescission request stems from murmurs among conservative Republicans expressing concerns over the recently approved budget by the House, which Trump lauded during his Capitol Hill visit, citing fears of debt accumulation.
Despite concerns surrounding the $1.1 billion proposed cuts to public broadcasting, critics point out that such reductions would hardly impact the national debt, which stands at $36 trillion.
The proposed cuts would revoke the full funding previously allocated through September 2027, a decision made by Congress in a stopgap spending bill signed by the president.
Historically, public broadcasting enjoyed bipartisan support, although many Republicans now criticize it as leaning toward a liberal bias.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), a prominent ally of Trump, voiced this sentiment at the subcommittee hearing earlier in the spring, claiming that NPR and PBS represent “radical, left-wing echo chambers” for a limited audience.
In contrast, some Republican figures, such as Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, have spoken out in favor of maintaining federal funding for public stations, underscoring their vital contributions in their states.
Prominent Democrats have also reiterated their commitment to supporting NPR and PBS.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Patty Murray, who leads Senate Appropriations, criticized Trump’s request, describing it as an attempt to settle political scores while weakening foreign assistance programs that counteract China’s influence.
In their joint statement, they accused Trump of undermining bipartisan priorities by targeting public broadcasting.
Additionally, Rep. Dan Goldman, co-chair of the House Public Broadcasting Caucus from New York, submitted a letter in May, endorsed by 106 Democratic lawmakers, urging for the preservation of federal subsidies for public broadcasting.
The letter noted that without federal support, many localities would struggle to access timely, reliable news and educational content, particularly in remote areas where commercial media often overlooks.
It highlighted that in states like Alaska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas, rural public radio stations are frequently the sole providers of local news, filling a critical information gap.
Trump’s rescission request signifies an extension of his previous rhetoric against NPR and PBS.
He has previously attempted to exert control over the CPB board by mandating the dismissal of three out of five of its members and issued an executive order blocking federal funding from reaching NPR or PBS.
These actions have led to ongoing legal challenges, with CPB taking legal action against the Trump administration concerning the firings and NPR and several local stations contesting the restrictions on funding via their own lawsuit.
PBS and its Minnesota affiliate followed suit with a collaborative lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order as well.
Despite the impending legal clashes regarding executive orders, Trump’s rescission request stands as a legally sound action.
This has prompted a surge of lobbying efforts, with officials from nearly 200 public radio stations advocating their value on Capitol Hill in May.
As mandated by law, the 45-day consideration period for Congress to respond to Trump’s rescission request has commenced.
Notably, the last successful rescission request by a sitting president occurred nearly thirty years ago.
image source from：https://www.npr.org/2025/06/03/nx-s1-5418080/pbs-npr-trump-rescission-public-broadcasting
