Republican lawmakers are ramping up efforts to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS, with Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) leading the charge. His proposed “No Propaganda Act” aims to prohibit taxpayer dollars from subsidizing what he calls “left-of-center opinion journalism.”
Kennedy took to the Senate floor, making the case that NPR and PBS are entitled to publish editorial content but should not be funded by taxpayers.
“We’re spending half a billion dollars a year—14 and a half billion dollars over time—to give to people at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR, and PBS to participate in opinion journalism, which they’re entitled to do, but they can’t do it on the taxpayer dime. They’re doing it on the taxpayer dime, but they shouldn’t be able to,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy pointed to NPR’s $201 million headquarters near the Capitol, questioning why public money is being used to finance what he calls a declining media institution.
“The folks at PBS and NPR are doing pretty well for themselves. NPR just bought a $201 million office space just up the road from the Capitol. $200 million. It came from American taxpayers so they could publish this stuff,” he said.
“They can go exist on their own if they want to—funded. We’re running $36 trillion in debt. This is disgraceful in 2025. It’s disgraceful whether it is left-of-center opinion journalism or right-of-center opinion journalism. It is disgraceful for the American people to have to fund this rot. It doesn’t have a right to exist, and they don’t have a right to taxpayer money,” Kennedy finished.
Watch:
NPR and PBS are entitled to do opinion journalism—but they can’t do it on the taxpayers’ dime.
My No Propaganda Act would make sure Americans aren’t funding this rot. pic.twitter.com/XCcvAPMmYv
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) March 3, 2025
The bill, officially titled the “No Propaganda Act,” amends the Communications Act of 1934, explicitly banning federal funds from being allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Introduced in December 2024, the legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
The bill states:
- Prohibition on Federal Funds: “No Federal funds may be made available to the Corporation on or after the date of enactment of the No Propaganda Act.”
- Restriction on Accepting Federal Funds: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, would be prohibited from accepting any money from the federal government moving forward.
- Rescinding Unspent Funds: Any unobligated balances from past appropriations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be rescinded.
Conservatives have long argued that NPR and PBS maintain a left-leaning bias despite their claims of neutrality. In January, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), also targeted NPR and PBS for alleged partisan bias in their federally funded news coverage.
Greene specifically criticized NPR for ignoring the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election and accused both organizations of pushing a left-leaning agenda. PBS has also faced scrutiny for allegedly misleading reports, such as a claim that Elon Musk made a fascist salute.
Last month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr launched an investigation into NPR and PBS’s underwriting practices, which could impact future federal funding decisions.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Carr wrote. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
