House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) is calling for an end to taxpayer-funded media. He recently refused to appear on National Public Radio (NPR) after a former employee accused the station of operating under overwhelming pressure. left-wing bias.
Goode’s new NPR Funding Elimination Act, introduced Friday, would block federal funds from flowing directly to NPR and allow public radio stations that receive federal grants to use their taxpayer funds to purchase content from NPR. It would also prevent NPR from paying membership fees to NPR as a member station.
“Government shouldn’t be in the business of funding the media, and it shouldn’t be funding media that is obviously biased,” Goode told Fox News Digital in his first interview about the bill. “NPR has had a clear left-wing bias for decades, and it’s only getting stronger every day. And there’s no reason taxpayers should have to fund this.”
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House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good is the latest top Republican to call for defunding NPR. (Getty Images and FOX News Digital)
The Virginia Republican said that if the case were reversed — if news organizations that received federal funding were accused of shifting to the right — public anger would grow even more.
“As protected by the First Amendment, we have a free and open press, at least in theory we should have, and it is an important and fundamental right in this country.” he said. “But governments should not force taxpayers to fund them on scale. We can’t imagine if they were trying to force taxpayers to fund media organizations that are perceived as strongly conservative. Can you imagine that? Is it outrageous to do that?”
Conservatives have long accused NPR of biasing its coverage to the left, even though some of the funding comes through federal grants and government-backed funds.
These concerns were recently highlighted in an op-ed by former NPR Editor-in-Chief Uli Berliner, who highlighted important stories stemming from Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive and rumors of a COVID-19 lab leak. was mishandled, compounded by the fact that many registered Democrats claimed to be Democrats. He has an 87-0 majority in the newsroom.
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Rep. Bob Good’s proposed bill comes after former NPR editor-in-chief Uli Berliner accused newsrooms of extreme bias. (JP Yim/WireImage/File)
NPR News Director Edith Chapin responded in a statement. near the outlet“We are proud to support the outstanding work that the desk and the show do to cover a wide range of difficult stories. We believe in inclusion and telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.”
Berliner was immediately suspended without pay for five days, but resigned the next day.
“I respect the integrity of my colleagues and want NPR to thrive and do important journalism,” Berliner said in part in his resignation letter to NPR CEO Katherine Maher. He also opposed calls to end funding to NPR. “But I can’t work in a newsroom where the new CEO despises the divisiveness that confirms the very problems at NPR that I cited in my Free Press essay.”
Good told Fox News Digital that Ma “doesn’t seem concerned about the truth.”
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NPR CEO Katherine Maher has also come under fire in the aftermath. (Screenshot/Carnegie Endowment/File)
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“She’s obviously a left-wing individual as well, and she’s a good fit for that organization, and that’s fine, but it shouldn’t be paid for with people’s tax dollars,” Goode said.
Most of NPR’s funding comes from corporate sponsors; According to that site, nonprofits also benefit directly and indirectly from federal funds. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which received a $535 million upfront payment for fiscal year 2026 in the latest government funding agreement, oversees both NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service.
Fox News Digital has reached out to NPR for comment on Good’s bill and comments.
