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How Public Media Cuts Hurt Kids
For decades, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has supported the development of and access to public broadcasting in the United States, focusing on providing non-commercial, high-quality content that reaches 99 percent of Americans. Programming on National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) ranges from national news to emergency alerts to local sports events to high-end documentaries.
For much of its existence, CPB has received bipartisan, widespread support, helping it survive multiple congressional defunding efforts. Today, however, CPB’s fate is tied to a so-called “rescissions” package under consideration in the Senate.
Rescissions are a rarely used tactic whereby presidents can propose canceling unused spending previously approved by Congress. At $9.4 billion, the bill hardly offsets the costs of the $3.3 trillion Big Beautiful Bill signed into law last Friday. But it would eliminate numerous foreign aid programs, along with all $1.1 billion in federal funding for the CPB for the next two fiscal years. It could also set a precedent of Congress rubber-stamping the unilateral cuts imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The bill was presented in late May, and under the rules for rescissions, it must be passed by Congress within 45 legislative days with a simple majority vote. The House already passed the rescissions package by a single vote, and now the Senate faces a July 18th deadline.
Ending CPB funding would fulfill a years-long promise by President Donald Trump and conservative allies, who allege that public media promotes a radical, leftist ideological perspective. Yet PBS and thousands of local radio and television stations have also been swept up in this tirade, putting at risk essential educational programming for rural America and America’s children.
For much of its existence, CPB has received bipartisan, widespread support, helping it survive multiple congressional defunding efforts. Today, however, CPB’s fate is tied to a so-called “rescissions” package under consideration in the Senate.
Rescissions are a rarely used tactic whereby presidents can propose canceling unused spending previously approved by Congress. At $9.4 billion, the bill hardly offsets the costs of the $3.3 trillion Big Beautiful Bill signed into law last Friday. But it would eliminate numerous foreign aid programs, along with all $1.1 billion in federal funding for the CPB for the next two fiscal years. It could also set a precedent of Congress rubber-stamping the unilateral cuts imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The bill was presented in late May, and under the rules for rescissions, it must be passed by Congress within 45 legislative days with a simple majority vote. The House already passed the rescissions package by a single vote, and now the Senate faces a July 18th deadline.
Ending CPB funding would fulfill a years-long promise by President Donald Trump and conservative allies, who allege that public media promotes a radical, leftist ideological perspective. Yet PBS and thousands of local radio and television stations have also been swept up in this tirade, putting at risk essential educational programming for rural America and America’s children.
https://prospect.org/culture/2025-07-08-public-media-cuts-PBS-NPR-education/