President Trump signed an executive order late Thursday night to end federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Services (PBS).
NPR and PB, which have long been targeted at conservative cut targets, both receive partial funding through public broadcasting (CPB), and the president argues that it is not necessary in the current media environment.
“The government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary, but also corrupted by the emergence of journalistic independence,” Trump wrote in order.
“The CPB Committee shall suspend direct funding for NPR and PBS, consistent with my administration's policy to ensure that federal funding does not support bias and partisan news coverage,” he added. “The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funds to the maximum extent permitted by law and deny future funding.”
Trump also directed the CPB to terminate indirect funding for the NPR and PB. “Ensuring that licensees and permits for public radio and television stations and other recipients of the CPB Fund will not use federal funds on NPR and PB.”
The President gave the CPB until June 30th, fulfilling his order.
NPR and PBS have a diverse range of revenue streams, including major foundation grants, advertising, voluntary audiences and listener contributions. This means that if they lose federal support, both could suspend operations.
CPB is configured to receive $535 million in funds allocated to Congress It is distributed to public broadcasters every year in 2025 and 2026.
PBS and its member stations receive about 15% of revenue from CPB, while NPR stations acquire 10% of funds from businesses. According to NPR.
The NPR itself only receives 1% directly from the CPB.
Trump previously wanted NPR and PBS to be refunded at the Truth Social Post in March.
“NPR and PBS, two horribly, completely biased platforms, should be refunded immediately by Congress,” he wrote on March 27th.
In a late-night order, the president argued that “Americans have the right to expect that if taxes fund public broadcasting at all, they will fund only fair, accurate, fair and nonpartisan coverage.”
“There are no media outlets with a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies. The government has the right to decide which categories of activities to subsidize.”
The White House fact sheet for the order suggests that the output of the left-leaning network serves as a “significant contribution to the Democrats and their political causes,” thus violating the CPB's legal mission. [in] Nature. ”
“The CPB cannot comply with these principles to the extent that it subsidizes NPR and PBS,” the order states. “The perspectives promoted by NPR and PBS are not important. What's important is that neither entities present a fair, accurate or impartial portrayal of the current events paying taxes to their citizens.”
In addition to eliminating CPB payments to NPR and PBS, Trump has ordered all federal agencies to “identify and close” taxpayer money going to public broadcasters.
Trump also decided to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. whether PBS and NPR are complying with the statutory mandate that “people are not subject to discrimination in employment” on reasons of “racial, color, religion, place of origin, or gender.”
“In the event of a discovery of a violation of compliance, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall take appropriate corrective action,” the order read.
