House Oversight's DOGE Subpanel Eyes March Hearing on NPR, PBS Bias Claims
House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., pressed NPR and PBS executives Monday to testify at a March hearing on “federally funded radio and television, including its systemically biased content.” Greene’s request followed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s call last week for the Enforcement and Media bureaus to investigate PBS and NPR member stations over possible underwriting violations (see 2501300065). President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency advisory group has eyed NPR and PBS funder CPB as a potential target (see 2411220042).
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House DOGE Subcommittee Republicans are “concerned” by broadcasters’ “blatantly ideological and partisan coverage,” Greene said in letters to PBS CEO Paula Kerger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher. The subpanel “seeks to better understand” the broadcasters’ “position on providing Americans with accurate information.” Greene proposed the weeks of March 3 and March 24 as hearing opportunities. She cited 2024 claims of pro-Democratic Party bias at NPR that prompted House Commerce Committee GOP scrutiny (see 2405080064) and PBS’ recent characterization of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s gesture “while addressing an inaugural celebration hours after” Trump returned to office Jan. 20 as “a fascist salute.”
Greene disputed PBS’ “false” characterization of Musk’s gesture by citing an Anti-Defamation League interpretation that it was “an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.” That “sort of bias betrays the principles of objective reporting and undermines public trust,” Greene told Kerger. “As an organization that receives federal funds through its member stations, PBS should provide reporting that serves the entire public, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups.”
The proposed DOGE hearing “is an opportunity for you to explain to Congress and the American people why federal funds should be used” for public broadcasting, Greene told Kerger and Maher. House Appropriations Committee Republicans attempted to end CPB's advance funding in 2023 and 2024 (see 2407100060). Congress approved $535 million in advance FY 2026 funding for CPB in the FY 2024 minibus spending bill, and the Senate Appropriations Committee in July proposed giving the entity the same amount for FY 2027 (see 2408010059).
NPR said in a statement that it welcomes “the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.” The broadcaster said it “constantly” strives to hold itself "to the highest standards of journalism.”
PBS said it “and our member stations are grateful to have bipartisan support in Congress, and our country.” The broadcaster said it has “earned this support from decades of noncommercial and nonpartisan work in local communities: providing all Americans with content they trust; offering a broad range of stories and programs that help citizens understand our past and shape our future; and helping children and families open up worlds of possibilities through educational programming. We appreciate the opportunity to present to the committee how now, more than ever, the service PBS provides matters for our nation.”