House Republicans Narrowly Pass Bill to Claw Back PBS, NPR Funding
WASHINGTON — The House voted 214-212, largely along party lines, to cut federal funding for public media and foreign aid, a move intended to enshrine the first major cuts proposed by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Four Republicans voted with House Democrats against the bill, but in the end, that just wasn’t enough to prevent the legislation, which rescinds nearly $1.1 billion in funding already approved for NPR and PBS, from advancing to the Senate.
The bill also cuts about $9.4 billion that was earmarked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, but it was the fate of public media that seemed to be front and center in people’s minds on Thursday.
“For decades, Republicans have promised to cut NPR, but have never done it, until now,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social, urging the GOP conference on, before the House vote.
“NPR and PBS are a Radical Left Disaster, and 1000% against the Republican Party!” he said.
After the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., attempted to frame the bill’s passage as a victory for budget hawks fighting to bring down the $36 trillion federal deficit.
“Today’s House passage of this initial rescissions package marks a critical step toward a more responsible and transparent government that puts the interests of the American taxpayers first,” Johnson said in a written statement.
“It is just one of the ways Republicans are codifying DOGE’s findings and putting taxpayer dollars to better use,” he said.
Despite the outcome, the vote left advocates for public media largely unbowed.
“The fight to protect public media does not end with this vote, and we will continue to make the case for our essential service in the days and weeks to come,” PBS said in a written statement.
“If these cuts are finalized by the Senate, it will have a devastating impact on PBS and local member stations, particularly smaller and rural stations that rely on federal funding for a larger portion of their budgets,” the statement said. “Without PBS and local member stations, Americans will lose unique local programming and emergency services in times of crisis.”
NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher agreed.
“If rescission passes and local stations go dark, millions of Americans will no longer have access to locally owned, independent, nonprofit media and will bear the risk of living in a news desert, missing their emergency alerts, and hearing silence where classical, jazz and local artists currently play,” she said.
Maher went on to urge the Senate to “preserve the bipartisan support that has uplifted public broadcasting’s essential services in this country for the last 50 years,” and protect the “unique, universal and lifesaving value of the public media system.”
The bill’s fate in the Senate is currently unclear. A number of Republicans have expressed concerns about the cuts, particularly to public broadcasting, but a number of House Republicans who expressed similar concerns ultimately went ahead and voted for them anyway.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said the body is unlikely to consider the measure until some time in July, after the chamber finishes and votes on its version of the so-called “big, beautiful bill” advancing Trump’s legislative priorities.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
We're proud to make our journalism accessible to everyone, but producing high-quality journalism comes at a cost. That's why we need your help. By making a contribution today, you'll be supporting TWN and ensuring that we can keep providing our journalism for free to the public.
Donate now and help us continue to publish TWN’s distinctive journalism. Thank you for your support!
