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On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) directing the cessation of federal funding for those blights on the airwaves, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). (While you might miss the 40+ year old BBC reruns I guess you won’t miss the leftist bias.) The EO will have to fight its way through the House as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s funding is appropriated by Congress.

Here are the key provisions and actions outlined in the EO, based on available information:

  • Purpose: The EO states that NPR and PBS receive taxpayer funds through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which is no longer necessary in a media landscape with diverse news options. It argues that government funding undermines journalistic independence and that public funds should not support biased or partisan coverage.
  • Direct Funding Termination: The EO instructs the CPB Board of Directors to cease direct funding to NPR and PBS to the maximum extent allowed by law. It mandates that the CPB cancel existing direct funding and decline to provide future funding.
  • Indirect Funding Prohibition: The EO requires the CPB to ensure that licensees, permittees of public radio and television stations, and other recipients of CPB funds do not use federal funds to support NPR or PBS. To enforce this, the CPB must revise its 2025 Television and Radio Community Service Grants General Provisions and Eligibility Criteria by June 30, 2025, to prohibit direct or indirect funding to NPR and PBS.
  • Agency Compliance Review: The EO directs all federal agencies to identify and terminate any direct or indirect funding to NPR and PBS. Agencies must review existing grants, contracts, or other funding instruments for compliance with the EO. If noncompliance is found, agencies are to take appropriate steps under the terms of those instruments.
  • Discrimination Investigation: The EO instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether NPR and PBS comply with the statutory mandate prohibiting discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, or sex (47 U.S.C. 397(15), 398(b)). If noncompliance is found, the Secretary must take corrective action.
  • Legal Context: The CPB, a private nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, distributes approximately $535 million annually to public media, including NPR, PBS, and local stations. NPR receives about 1% of its budget directly from federal funds and slightly more indirectly, while PBS and its stations receive about 15% from CPB funds. The EO’s authority is contested, as the CPB asserts it is independent of presidential control, and Congress has allocated funds through 2027.
  • Implementation and Challenges: The EO does not specify an immediate funding cutoff date, and its implementation may face legal challenges. The CPB, NPR, and PBS argue that the president lacks authority to unilaterally cut funding, citing congressional control over CPB’s budget and statutory protections against federal interference in public broadcasting.

The EO aims to eliminate federal subsidies for NPR and PBS, both directly and through local stations, and mandates compliance reviews and potential investigations into employment practices. Its effectiveness depends on potentially lethal legal and congressional outcomes.