WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Mike Lee has proposed legislation that would end federal taxpayer funding of the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio.
The controversial legislation – dubbed the Defund Government Sponsored Propaganda Act — was introduced into the Senate on Jan. 11, with U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) sponsoring a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
“Americans have hundreds of sources of news and commentary,” according to Lee. “They don’t need politically biased, taxpayer-funded media choosing what they should see and hear.”
Cutting off federal funding for public radio and television broadcasting is by no means a new idea. Political conservatives have been advocating for that change since the Clinton administration three decades ago.
But now – with the legacy media’s credibility at a low ebb and federal budget cuts seemingly guaranteed by the semi-official Department of Government Efficiency headed by Elon Musk – that possibility seems all too real.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a free, non-commercial, non-profit television network that offers educational, news and entertainment programming.
Founded in 1969, PBS is the largest public media enterprise in the United States.
PBS provides its member stations with programming in cultural, educational and scientific areas; in children’s fare; and, in news and public affairs. PBS does not itself produce programs. PBS broadcasts are produced by member stations, independent producers and others worldwide.
National Public Radio (NPR) is a nonprofit media organization that provides news, analysis and cultural programming throughout the United States. NPR is based in Washington, D.C. and has a network of more than 1,000 affiliate radio stations across the country.
In 2025, the inside-the-Beltway journal The Hill reported that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – which functions as a parent company for PBS and NPR – is scheduled to receive some $500 million in federal funds.
The lion’s share of those taxpayer dollars go to PBS, while NPR disingenuously claims to receive only 1 percent of its budget from federal funding. The reality is much more complex, with public radio stations also benefiting from federal grants sent from Washington, along with local fundraising and underwriting.
For those who believe in public media as an important source of news and entertainment, The Hill reports, the future of this overall funding model looks dim — and not just because of looming budget cuts.
In late January, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), launched an investigation into underwriting announcements that air on NPR and PBS stations.
In a Jan. 29 letter to NPR and PBS executives, Carr notified them that their member stations may “be violating federal law by…broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
Regardless of the results of the pending FCC investigation, Lee and Tenney have seemingly already found PBS and NPR guilty.
“Taxpayer dollars should not fund political propaganda disguised as journalism,” Tenney argues. “These taxpayer-funded outlets have chosen advocacy over accuracy, using public dollars to promote a political agenda rather than report the facts.”
“PBS and NPR are free to compete in the marketplace of ideas using donations,” Lee adds. “But their public subsidy should end.”