The Senate is set to vote on a rescissions package proposed by President Trump to withdraw over $1 billion in funding approved for public broadcasting, including PBS and NPR. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) receives this funding and allocates it to NPR, PBS, and local radio and television stations. NPR directly receives about 2% of its budget from federal grants, while PBS receives around 15%. Local stations, especially in rural areas, rely more heavily on these funds, which would significantly impact their operations and programming.
Known formally as a rescissions package, the request targets the $1.07 billion Congress previously approved to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through September 2027. CPB, a private nonprofit, in turn distributes the money it receives to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local radio and television stations via grants.
NPR gets about 2 percent of its annual budget directly from federal grants, including from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; for PBS, that amount is about 15 percent.
The real pain will be felt by local stations in far-flung locations like Unalakleet, Alaska, and Pendleton, Ore. Those broadcasters often rely disproportionately on federal grants for their operations because of a funding formula that takes into account the fact that they have fewer donors and programming sponsors.
Cuts would still filter through to popular shows such as NPR's 'All Things Considered' and PBS's 'NewsHour' because local stations pay for the rights to air shows distributed by NPR and PBS.
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