WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is pushing to strip both PBS and NPR of its government funding, accusing the outlets of producing biased news and using taxpayer money to disseminate political propaganda.
Lee introduced the Defund Government Sponsored Propaganda Act on Tuesday, seeking to halt federal funds from going toward the broadcasting networks and to instead use the money to go toward paying off the national debt. The proposal comes as the Trump administration has been looking at ways to reduce waste in the federal government, with the news outlets becoming key targets of conservatives who have accused the networks of projecting liberal bias.
“Americans have hundreds of sources of news and commentary, and they don’t need politically biased, taxpayer-funded media choosing what they should see and hear,” Lee said in a statement. “PBS and NPR are free to compete in the marketplace of ideas using donations, but their public subsidy should end.”
Both PBS and NPR are partially funded through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was authorized by Congress in 1967. Every year, Congress appropriates funds to the CPB which are then distributed to more than 1,500 public media stations through Community Service Grants.
Much of those funds are crucial to provide basic operating support and are “essential to the funding mix that supports public broadcasting,” according to the CBP’s website.
“Federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers, including NPR,” NPR wrote on its website.
Less than 1% of NPR’s total funding comes from the federal government, but local stations that receive those grants pay fees to NPR.
PBS and NPR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The push to defund NPR and PBS comes as Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, has repeatedly threatened federal funding for the broadcasting stations, arguing each entity “should survive on its own.”
The same legislation has also been introduced in the House by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., a former newspaper owner and publisher who said she wants to preserve “the vital role of balanced, non-partisan media.”
“Unfortunately, these taxpayer-funded outlets have chosen advocacy over accuracy, using public dollars to promote a political agenda rather than report the facts,” Tenney said in a statement. “Under the influence of radical left-wing ideologues like Katherine Maher, PBS, and NPR no longer uphold the American principles of free thought and open discourse. Taxpayer dollars should not fund political propaganda disguised as journalism.”