The Trump Administration wants Congress to pull funding from public broadcasting, one of the most trusted American institutions.
If approved, the proposed rescission would claw back $770 million in already-appropriated funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027. This isn’t a routine budget adjustment. It is an unprecedented threat to the fabric of public media — and to the communities that depend on it.
PBS is a major source of news regardless of political preferences. 54.5 percent of self-declared “extreme conservatives” and 58.5 percent of self-declared “extreme liberals” in a recent survey consider it a major source of news and information.
For over 50 years, public media have served every corner of the United States, regardless of zip code, income level, or political affiliation. Public radio and television stations bring us essential local and national news, cultural programming, educational content, and emergency alerts. They fill the void left by the collapse of local newspapers, offer the last bastion of classical and roots music on the airwaves, and provide critical alerts in times of natural disaster and national crisis. And they do all of this for less than 0.01 percent of federal spending.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no direct federal earmark for NPR or PBS programming. The CPB operates independently, distributing funds through competitive grants and guaranteeing basic support for every eligible noncommercial station, rural and urban, large and small. This rescission would cut off funding to more than 1,000 local public radio signals and many hundreds of public media organizations, causing dozens to close entirely.
The implications are enormous. Budget shortfalls will mean layoffs for thousands of journalists and the cancellation of local newscasts, cultural programs, and educational series. Emergency alert systems, powered by public radio infrastructure, will degrade, putting lives at risk in a crisis. Some 35 states include public radio in their emergency plans; 20 name NPR’s satellite system directly.
Meanwhile, music lovers will lose access to 96 percent of all classical music broadcast nationally, along with unique jazz, folk, and Americana programming found nowhere else. CPB currently negotiates affordable music licenses for all public stations. Without it, most stations won’t be able to afford to broadcast music legally.
And what is all this for? Certainly not meaningful deficit reduction. Cutting CPB funding would save a minuscule fraction of the federal budget, with little to no impact on taxpayers, but it would cause enormous harm to millions of Americans who rely on public media for trustworthy information and connection to their communities.
This proposal also raises serious constitutional questions. It appears to be viewpoint-based retaliation, aimed at controlling the content of public media, violating the Public Broadcasting Act, the First Amendment, and Due Process protections. If passed, it would end nearly half a century of bipartisan consensus in support of independent, nonprofit local broadcasting.
We are facing the most serious threat public media has ever seen. And there is no private-sector replacement waiting in the wings. Commercial media companies have made clear that they cannot — or will not — serve every American, everywhere, with high-quality news and culture, especially in unprofitable or underserved markets.
Congress must act now. Lawmakers of both parties should reject this misguided clawback, uphold the Public Broadcasting Act, and affirm the value of an independent, inclusive public media system that serves all of us.
Most of our public media stations are not luxuries run by egocentric, money hungry individuals. However, they should all be scrutinized to ensure they continue to be local lifelines. Let’s not silence all of them.
https://www.floridabulldog.org/
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/
https://www.npr.org/sections/investigations/
https://apnews.com/hub/ap-investigations/?id=1&p=2
https://cpboig.oversight.gov/what-we-do/investigations
https://www.fcc.gov/enforcement/areas/underwriting-id-licensed-noncomme…
