GOP-led House advances bill to defund public media

DENVER — The House of Representatives voted to claw back two years of funding — more than $1 billion — reserved for PBS and NPR Thursday as part of a “rescission bill” that also cancels more than $8 billion in foreign aid.

The rescission bill codifies cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly spearheaded by Elon Musk. It now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate for a simple majority vote.

Every Democratic representative present voted against the bill. A handful of Republicans — enough to jeopardize the bill’s passage — previously expressed concern or outright opposition to defunding public media, but the GOP secured enough votes to pass the bill, which is expected to threaten the viability of public television and radio stations across the country.

The bill passed 214-212. When voting opened, six Republicans initially voted “no,” but two lawmakers, New York Rep. Nick LaLota and Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, switched their votes to “yes” after meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican.

"Americans who rely on local, independent stations serving communities across America, especially in rural and underserved regions, will suffer the immediate consequences of this vote," NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement. "If rescission passes and local stations go dark, millions of Americans will no longer have access to locally owned, independent, nonprofit media and will bear the risk of living in a news desert, missing their emergency alerts, and hearing silence where classical, jazz and local artists currently play."

The vote on the rescission bill may have failed if the Democrats were at full strength. Four lawmakers did not vote: Reps. Beatty (OH), Correa (CA), Norcross (NJ) and Randall (WA). And since March, three Democratic representatives have died. Their seats have not been filled.

The Senate has until July 18 to approve the bill for it to take effect.

Federal funding makes up a critical portion of annual budgets for public media stations, particularly those in rural areas represented by Republicans in Congress. 

Almost half of the stations that receive grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which manages and distributes government funding to public media stations — are considered rural. Many of those stations relied on government funding for 25 percent or more of their revenue, according to CPB.

Rocky Mountain Public Media receives about 10% of its funding from CPB. “Loss of federal funding would hinder our work, especially in serving our neighbors in every corner of our state with journalism and programs that are freely accessible to all,” the organization said.

You can read our previous reporting on federal support for public media in the related stories below.