U.S. House Votes to Defund Taxpayer Subsidization of PBS & NPR

In May, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order ending taxpayer subsidies to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Thursday the House of Representatives voted to defund NPR and PBS.

According to the White House:

• NPR and PBS receive tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year, primarily from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
• The Order ceases federal funding to NPR and PBS to the maximum extent allowed by law.
• It also ceases indirect funding to PBS and NPR by prohibiting local public radio and television stations and any other recipients of CPB funds from using taxpayer dollars to support these organizations.
• The Order mandates that the CPB revise its 2025 General Provisions to explicitly prohibit direct or indirect funding to NPR and PBS.
• It directs all federal agencies to terminate any direct or indirect funding to NPR and PBS and to review existing grants and contracts for compliance.
• The Order instructs the FCC and relevant agencies to investigate whether NPR and PBS have engaged in unlawful discrimination.

The U.S. House of Representatives just voted to defund NPR and PBS on Thursday, 214-212, President Trump’s rescission package to rescind $9.4 billion of taxpayer funding – including $1.1 billion of funding of NPR and PBS, as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funnels the taxpayer money to them, the Media Research Center reports.

What the House passed included eliminating $9.4 billion in federal funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, Just the News reported.

The rescission bill now moves to the Senate, which many expect will approve the defunding as well.

“NPR and PBS have fueled partisanship and left-wing propaganda with taxpayer dollars, which is highly inappropriate and an improper use of taxpayers’ money,” President Trump has said.

For decades, Republicans have objected to taxpayer funding going to the two media outlets because of leftist bias, but Congress always blocked attempts.

The Media Research Center, parent company of  NewsBusters, have long argued against taxpayer subsidies for NPR and PBS.

President Trump in his executive order boiled his reasoning down to, “No media outlet has a Constitutional right to taxpayer subsidized operations, and it’s highly inappropriate for taxpayers to be forced to subsidize biased, partisan content.”

“The package cancels money that was already appropriated by Congress in an effort to cement the Department of Government Efficiency’s spending cuts.”