Senate Republicans Gut Funding for NPR and PBS Stations Following Contentious Vote on Trump Rescission Package

WASHINGTON — Early Thursday morning, a Senate Republican majority voted to accept President Donald Trump’s recommendation to strike $9 billion from the previously approved federal budget. 

The measures passed the Senate 51–48 as members voted along party lines with the exception of GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). The amounts cut include $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity that provides federal support for NPR and PBS affiliates across the country. 

A similar package narrowly passed the House in June. Earlier in the year, Congress approved $535 million a year in federal spending for CPB through the end of 2027. But President Trump, in early June, sent Congress a “rescission request,” which gave lawmakers a window of 45 days to vote on Trump’s measure by a simple-majority vote in both chambers.

Because Senate Republicans changed aspects of the rescission package, it will return to the House for a vote, expected later Thursday or Friday.

Free Press Action Co-CEO Craig Aaron said:

“The Senate GOP refused to listen to millions of their constituents and stop this senseless attack on essential educational programming, invaluable accountability journalism and lifesaving emergency alerts. People of all political stripes believe that funding public broadcasting is a worthy use of taxpayer dollars. But the Trump administration doesn’t want people hearing any critical coverage of its actions — including criticism of funding cuts to billions in global public-health programs that are also a part of this rescission package. 

“Free Press Action and our allies worked to ensure that every member of the Senate heard from people back home. This effort to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not just deeply unpopular — it’s an assault on the foundations of our democracy. This White House is determined to destroy any news outlets that hold the president accountable for his actions. But the clawback of money cuts deeper in rural, Tribal and low-income communities that depend on public-broadcasting outlets to get the news and information they need to survive and thrive. 

“Publicly funded news outlets act as counterbalances to a commercial media system that too often puts profits before the public interest. Losing federal support for public media will make it easier for Trump to get away with his crimes and burn a path of destruction through our democracy. It won’t be easy to rebuild what Trump has smashed, but we must because without independent public media we won’t have a democracy.” 

Background: 
In February, Free Press Action Co-CEO Craig Aaron testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the Trump administration’s censorship of media viewpoints the president dislikes, calling it a “free-speech emergency.” In May 2024, he testified about false claims of bias at NPR and PBS. Free Press Action is leading grassroots efforts to craft public policy that supports local noncommercial news and information.