The White House plans to ask Congress to win more than $1 billion scheduled for public broadcasting in the US, according to two people who have explained the plan.
The plan is to require Congress to cancel $1.1 billion in federal funds for corporations for public broadcasting, a taxpayer-backed company that funds public media organisations across the United States, one of the people said. If Congress agrees, it will be about two years of the organization's funding, almost all of which will go to public broadcasters, including NPR, PBS and local member stations. The Trump administration is not planning to ask Congress to curb the roughly $100 million allocated for emergency communications.
Government money is part of the NPR and PBS budgets, generating revenue through sponsorships and donations. Most of the government's funds go to local bureaus, which relies on it to fund their newsrooms and pay for programming.
The proposal is part of a broader withdrawal package, a formal request to Congress to withdraw previously approved funds, which would also eliminate the billions allocated to foreign aid, the two said. This process is established under the law, with the House and Senate vote to vote for the House and Senate to approve the request after it is submitted. The White House plans to file the withdrawal request in the coming weeks, people said. If Congress does not approve the request for withdrawal, the money must be spent as originally intended.
The Trump administration's proposal to refund public broadcasts has intensified long-term attacks on broadcasters amid persistent pressure on NPR and PBS from Republicans in Congress. The chief executives of both organizations testified before Congress last month at a fiery hearing held along primarily partisan boundaries. Republicans attacked what executives deemed liberal prejudice, while Democrats argued that the proceedings were a waste of time.
This question is also the latest move by the Trump administration to put pressure on media organizations. The administration has broken decades of precedent, fighting legal battles with Associated Press over its decision to exclude wire services from the presidential press pool. Trump has also personally sued CBS News and the Des Moines register, and the Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into Comcast, PBS and NPR.
Public Broadcasting Corporation spokesmen PBS and NPR declined to comment.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been “forward funding” for two years to isolate it from political manipulation, and according to those familiar with the issue, a significant chunk of money for 2025 has already been paid to US public broadcasters.
Public media executives are planning the possibility of curbing public funds for months. According to documents produced by the station director this fall, immediate elimination of funds is “like impacting an asteroid without warning,” but will be eliminated immediately.
“This is the highest risk scenario, especially in an era of rapidly changing media ecosystems,” the document says.
Public media advocates say local audiences will be hit hardest if funds are cut from NPR and PBS stations. In very remote areas with no broadband access, public radio and television are one of the few sources of news and entertainment.
But those who support refunds say advances in technology have made these services outdated. In an interview last month, Georgia Republican president Marjorie Taylor Green said that rural residents of her district have enough access to maintain adequate access to mobile phones and internet services.
“The end result here: NPR and PBS just blame themselves,” said Mike Gonzalez, a Heritage Foundation fellow who publicly advocated for public media rebates. “For the past 50 years, all Republican presidents have tried to refund or reform them.”
In 2011, NPR executives produced a secret report examining what would happen if government funds were eliminated. Up to 18% of roughly 1,000 member stations across the United States will be closed, with $240 million going off public radio, according to the report. Midwest, South and West stations will be the most affected, with around 30% of listeners losing access to NPR programming.
According to documents, cutting off federal funding will stimulate public radio supporters and lead to a sudden surge in donations to stations across the United States.
Maggie Haberman contributed the report.
