Republicans are introducing a bill to pull all federal funding for NPR and PBS. The massive initiative, first reported by Fox News, comes after a congressional hearing where the networks' CEOs defended their organizations against accusations of bias. Both NPR and PBS have refuted the claims.
This resulted in a contentious session on Wednesday during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing led by Marjorie Taylor Greene. During the hearing, NPR's CEO, Katherine Maher, admitted that the network failed to provide adequate coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which emerged just before the 2020 election. At the time, NPR's managing editor dismissed the story as a mere "distraction."
Drawing Trump's Wrath
However, the story was later verified, leading to criticism of the broadcaster, which reportedly had 87 registered Democrats on staff last year and no known Republicans. Maher acknowledged that such an imbalance would be "concerning—if true," but maintained that NPR does not track employees' political affiliations.
Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, seemingly taking note of these revelations, is now introducing the bill.
Fox reported this morning that the bill is set to be introduced on Thursday.
The legislation is deliberately named the "No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Services Act," a direct reference to the acronyms of both organizations.
Rep. Ronny Jackson told Fox that, if approved, the bill would completely cut off all government funding for both NPR and PBS.
"Hardworking Americans are sick of footing the bill," the House Republican said, adding, "It's time to cut them off and stop forcing taxpayers to pay for their liberal lies."
On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his stance, setting the stage for a heated hearing where Greene aggressively confronted the two executives from the beginning.
Meanwhile, Trump showed his support for defunding both organizations, saying he "would love to" see it happen.
Elon Musk, often referred to as the "First Buddy," commented on NPR, saying, "It should survive on its own."
No Support for NPR, PBS
On Wednesday, Greene, in an unusually fiery stance, slammed PBS, accusing it of being a key player in what she called the "trans child abuse industry." She specifically condemned the network for featuring a drag queen on one of its programs, referring to the performer as a "monster."
Kerger clarified at another moment during the discussion, responding to questioning from Representative William Timmons, a Republican from South Carolina, by stating that the drag queen had not appeared on any of PBS's children's programs.
When asked about the performance by South Carolina Republican Representative William Timmons, Kerger again said, "The drag queen was actually not on any of our kids' shows."
Timmons questioned whether she believed it was "inappropriate to put the drag queen on a kids' show." In reality, the performer, known as Lil Miss Hot Mess, had appeared in a digital segment on YouTube rather than on a traditional kids' show.
"It was not for PBS," Kerger said in response to Timmons.
At one point, Greene challenged Maher, a 41-year-old former tech executive, over some of her past outspoken remarks. This included old social media posts, such as a 2020 tweet in which she criticized Donald Trump, calling him a "racist" and a "sociopath."
When questioned about these comments by GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, Maher responded, "I regret [them] today."
Regarding the proposed bill, it must first go through a subcommittee review before being put to a vote in both chambers. If passed, it will be sent to the president, who can either sign it into law or veto it.
