THE CENTER SQUARE—The House Subcommittee for the Department of Government Efficiency is calling the leadership of National Public Radio, a news operation that receives taxpayer funding, to testify before Congress, it said Wednesday.
The House subcommittee was created to operate similarly to DOGE, the Trump administration’s federal effort to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the government. NPR is under scrutiny for its left-leaning political coverage while receiving taxpayer funding.
The hearing is expected March 26, and the leadership of the Public Broadcasting System has also been asked to testify.
“I want to hear why NPR and PBS think they should ever again receive a single cent from the American taxpayer,” U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who leads the DOGE Subcommittee, said.
Defenders of the groups point out that most of their funding is not from the government and that they offer a public service. PBS said it receives about $500 million a year from Congress.
Katherine Maher, CEO and president of NPR, and Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS, were personally asked to testify at the hearing, which has been called “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable.”
The hearing comes as Trump seeks to make cuts to government agencies and contracts across the federal government, leaving no institution safe from possible defunding.
Trump’s efforts to cut funding have hit several legal hiccups as judges question DOGE’s authority. Congressional efforts to make those cuts, however, would likely have little to no questions about their authority, making congressional attention on this issue important for the long-term sustainability of DOGE-like cuts to the government.
“These partisan, so-called media stations dropped the ball on Hunter Biden’s laptop, down-played COVID-19 origins, and failed to properly report the Russian collusion hoax,” Greene said. “Now, it is time for their CEOs to publicly explain this biased coverage. Federal taxpayers should not be forced to pay for one-sided reporting, which attacks over half the country to protect and promote its own political interests. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to stop allowing the blatant misuse of taxpayer funds for partisan ends.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, announced an investigation into PBS and NPR earlier this year.
As The Center Square previously reported, Maher released a statement responding to Carr’s investigation into PBS and NPR, alleging they may have broken the law by running commercials.
“NPR programming and underwriting messaging complies with federal regulations, including the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages for noncommercial educational broadcasters, and Member stations are expected to be in compliance as well,” she said. “We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules. We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”
