Politics
PBS and NPR on edge over FCC letter and Trump budget scrutiny
Forty years ago, the Reagan administration told PBS to find ways to increase funding for public television outside of taxpayer dollars.
It did.
PBS’ response to the challenge was to enhance the way it acknowledged sponsors. Instead of merely running a company logo before its programming, PBS let corporate underwriters place messages that looked more like standard commercials.
That process helped sustain such programs as “Nova,” “Masterpiece” and Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentaries. But it’s now under scrutiny from Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who says the spots “cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
In a Jan. 30 letter to PBS and NPR, which also airs corporate sponsorship messages, Carr stated his support for ending federal funding of public broadcasting.
“For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS,” he wrote, citing the array of media choices available to consumers.
Conservative politicians have long argued for cutting support of PBS and NPR, which they accuse of promoting liberal policies. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has proposed a bill calling for ending federal funding of the outlets, calling his legislation the Defund Government-Sponsored Propaganda Act.
Republican administrations have tried to cut off government funding since the days of the Nixon White House. But in the age of DOGE, where Elon Musk is given free rein by President Trump to slice and dice the federal budget, Carr’s focus feels more urgent.
“Carr bringing this up so early in his chairmanship shows that this is something that he’s really interested in dealing with,” said Jeff McCall, a professor of communications at DePauw University. “That’s what makes it feel different.”
PBS and NPR are just the latest targets of Carr, who has been aggressive in attacking the owners of broadcast channels licensed by the government. His actions have dovetailed with Trump’s animus toward mainstream media outlets that cover him critically.
Since taking over as chairman, Carr has revived bias complaints against CBS, ABC and NBC over their 2024 presidential campaign coverage after the Biden administration dismissed them. He has taken public comments in an inquiry of a news distortion complaint against CBS over the way “60 Minutes” edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris before the election.
The complaints against CBS, ABC and NBC were filed by the Center for American Rights, a conservative nonprofit law firm.
Carr’s Jan. 30 letter raised no specific examples that showed PBS or NPR violating the rules for public broadcasters.
“We’ve always envisioned a small amount of government funding matched by philanthropy and then matched by corporate support,” said PBS President Paula Kerger in an interview. “We have worked with the FCC to make sure that we’re complying in the spirit of what they believe we should be doing.”
Katherine Maher, president and chief executive of NPR, also said in a statement that the service has adhered to the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages.
As far as the fate of federal funding for PBS is concerned, Kerger is used to playing defense when a new administration takes over the White House.
“I never make the assumption that our government funding is just going to continue in the way that it has,” Kerger said. “I think it’s up to us, frankly, every year to make the case of why public media is important.”
Kerger noted that most of the government funding goes directly to PBS member TV stations that are locally owned and managed. The $595 million requested for the next appropriation for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes government funds to public stations, is more vital for outlets in rural areas which were more likely to have voted for Trump.
“The budgets of those stations are smaller, and proportionately, the amount of government funding that goes to them is usually quite significant,” Kerger said. “Sometimes as much as 40 to 50% comes out of the federal appropriation. And so we argue for this money specifically because those stations clearly would not exist.”
During her tenure, Kerger has paid close attention to stations in smaller towns such as Cookeville, Tenn. that provide free over-the-air PBS programming to residents who can’t afford pay TV subscriptions or adequate broadband for streaming. The stations also provide a backup for the wireless emergency alert system used to send weather warnings and Amber alerts.
“The needs of Cookeville are different than New York City,” Kerger said. “And in the case of a state like Florida, our television stations actually run a really robust network of information for people, not only as a storm is approaching, but throughout the storm.”
Nonprofit organizations that run public radio and TV stations are urging their donors and listeners to call on their representatives in Congress to resist cuts. Public media funding has survived thanks to bipartisan support.
PBS SoCal and others are promoting Protect My Public Media Day on March 6 to rally support.
Stations are using the data from a recent YouGov poll commissioned by PBS that shows Trump voters are in favor of government funding for the service, with 65% of them saying the current levels are “about right or too little.”
While public media has fended off proposed cuts in the past, McCall believes PBS and NPR need to buckle up with a determined Carr in charge.
“Even when you had Republican presidents, I don’t think those [FCC] chairmen ever really had the stomach to deal with this kind of thing,” he said.
new video loaded: Jan. 6 Rioter Hired by Pentagon
transcript
transcript
Jan. 6 Rioter Hired by Pentagon
Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, now works for an office responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots at the Pentagon.
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“Full pardon or commutation?” “Full pardon.”
By Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
June 4, 2026
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Democrats splintered over a resolution seeking to block the U.S. from assisting Israel’s war against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, on Thursday.
The measure, offered by progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., would require President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Lebanon. For months, Israel and Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group and Iranian proxy, have been at war in southern Lebanon, but the United States has not joined the conflict.
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., rejected the measure. Critics argued the resolution could aid Hezbollah and potentially hamstring U.S. military operations in the country.
Tlaib’s resolution failed 92-324, with more than half of House Democrats joining nearly all Republicans to vote it down.
The Lebanon war powers resolution divided Democrats, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., joining Republicans in rejecting the measure. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg)
REP RASHIDA TLAIB MOVES TO BLOCK US OPERATIONS IN LEBANON BUT IGNORES HEZBOLLAH
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., an Israel critic, was the lone Republican to support Tlaib’s measure. Meanwhile, Reps. Derek Tran, D-Calif., and Betty McCollum, D-Minn., voted present.
House Democratic leaders said shortly before the vote they would oppose Tlaib’s resolution and work with the progressive lawmaker on a narrower measure exempting some U.S. military operations in the country. Their statement also denounced Hezbollah as a “violent terrorist organization” and a “sworn enemy of the United States.”
Tlaib, who has accused Israel of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Lebanon, did not mention Hezbollah in her resolution. She and other proponents of the measure also avoided discussing the Iranian proxy force during heated floor debate over the measure.
Republicans highlighted the omission and accused the legislation’s supporters of serving as “proxies for Hezbollah.”
“Apparently they don’t want to see Israel killing Hezbollah, even though it’s Hezbollah that is killing Israeli children, Israeli adults, Israeli elders,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said Wednesday, referring to his Democratic colleagues.
Tlaib asserted that her resolution would only affect U.S. forces actively engaged in hostilities. Republicans, however, disputed that claim and suggested it would hurt U.S. efforts to counter Hezbollah.
“It doesn’t say anything about [whether] you can keep the Marines that are in the embassy,” Mast said, referring to the U.S. embassy in Beirut. “That’s a pretty big oversight. It doesn’t say anything about whether we can keep United States armed forces that are training missions with the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces]. Again, pretty big oversight.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, attempted to bar U.S. forces from joining Israel’s war in Lebanon. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)
RASHIDA TLAIB HIT WITH HOUSE CENSURE THREAT, ACCUSED OF ‘CELEBRATING TERRORISM’ IN PRO-PALESTINIAN SPEECH
The debate turned personal when Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, linked Tlaib to Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah is a terrorist organization … and its members are butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent,” the Ohio lawmaker said, referring to Tlaib.
A shouting match between the two then broke out, with Tlaib demanding that Miller’s remarks be stricken from the record.
The presiding chair ultimately complied with her request, but Miller doubled down on his remarks.
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“Yes, I said it. I own it, and I stand by it,” Mast said on behalf of Miller on the floor.
Tlaib’s failed war powers resolution comes as Iran has sought to tie Israel’s invasion of Lebanon to its ceasefire negotiations with the United States.
Hezbollah, which has long helped Iran project power in the region, rejected a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon’s government Thursday.
WASHINGTON — Initial efforts in the Senate failed Thursday to block the $1.8-billion fund that the Trump administration has sought to establish to pay people who claim the government wronged them, though further attempts were likely to come Thursday afternoon.
Republicans narrowly voted down a Democratic amendment to ban the payout fund and then Democrats killed a Republican amendment, which would have prohibited the use of federal money for the fund but would have sent $1.7 billion to the Justice Department’s fraud division.
It was the second effort in Congress to rebuke President Trump in two days, following the House vote Wednesday to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran.
The dueling amendments were proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). They were attached to the reconciliation bill that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, a high priority for Republicans.
The votes came as the Senate began a “vote-a-rama,” during which lawmakers were expected to propose a stream of amendments to the immigration bill on various topics.
The Trump administration’s plan for the payment fund — widely seen as a way for Trump to compensate his political allies, including those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — set off particular ire from some GOP lawmakers.
The plan has fueled growing unrest within parts of Trump’s party over his governance, compounded by the president’s endorsement of primary challengers to Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), as well as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), which angered some Republican senators.
Cassidy, who lost his primary and has since voiced strong opposition to Trump’s $1.8-billion fund, became a key player in the Thursday votes, voting down Schumer’s amendment but supporting Tillis’.
On Wednesday, Cassidy joined with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to argue in a court filing that the $1.8-billion fund circumvents Congress’ authority and violates the Constitution’s spending and appropriations clauses.
“It is an unconstitutional attempt to spend the People’s money without Congressional approval,” Cassidy and Booker wrote in an amicus brief filed in the federal court case challenging the fund.
The fund was created by the Justice Department to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Trump and his sons agreed to drop their personal lawsuit against the government in exchange for the creation of the $1.776-billion fund. Critics immediately questioned the plan, and it drew a rare backlash from Republicans.
In late May, GOP senators derailed plans to vote on the immigration bill over their displeasure with the payout fund and with Trump’s desire to use taxpayer funds for his planned White House ballroom. Senate Republicans removed the ballroom funding from the immigration package Wednesday, another setback for Trump.
The Trump administration sought to back away from its plans for the fund this week, following bipartisan outcry and a federal court ruling that temporarily blocked any payouts from the fund. Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said Tuesday the administration would end its plans to move ahead with the concept.
But Trump on Wednesday told reporters he didn’t know whether the fund was dead, calling it “a beautiful thing.”
After Schumer proposed the first amendment to ban the fund Thursday morning, the Senate came to a standstill as three key Republican senators deliberated. Schumer framed his effort to ban the fund Thursday as a way to force a referendum on Trump’s plan.
The amendment “offers Republicans a choice: Do you support Donald Trump’s $2 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund, or do you want to protect the American people and their paychecks?” Schumer said on the Senate floor before the vote.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) urged Republicans to reject the amendment, saying Democrats were planning to “play so many games” on Thursday during the marathon session.
“We are going to fund immigration enforcement and border patrol, and I urge my Republican colleagues to stay united on that singular mission,” Moreno said.
The amendment failed after Cassidy voted against it. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska voted in favor.
Schumer’s amendment was uniformly supported by Democrats, including California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
Tillis, who also voted against Schumer’s amendment, immediately proposed his amendment. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) urged Democrats to oppose it, saying that the proposal would create “a new slush fund” by giving the money to the Justice Department.
“We heard over the last 48 hours that the acting attorney general said that this fund’s not moving forward. All this amendment does is codify what I believe the policy of the DOJ is,” Tillis said on the floor before voting began on his amendment. “This [fund] is unpopular, this administration has said they’re not moving forward with it; this is an opportunity for us to put it to bed.”
Responded Merkley: “Taking one slush fund and eliminating it and then creating a new slush fund still under control of the attorney general is not the way to go. The way to go is to get rid of these slush funds altogether.”
Trump has faced a recent string of failures, including the House vote Wednesday, a court ruling to remove his name from the Kennedy Center and a record-low approval rating among Americans as concern rises about economic issues, gas prices and Trump’s war with Iran.
On Wednesday, Trump lashed out against the four Republicans who backed the House war powers resolution, calling it “an unpatriotic thing” to do and calling the vote “meaningless.”
“They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves. MAGA!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos, in Washington, contributed to this report.
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