House Likely to Back Senate-Passed Rescissions Bill With Public Broadcasting Clawback

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only Republicans who voted against final passage of HR-4, with both citing misgivings about defunding CPB. Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted to approve HR-4 after earlier voting against clearing procedural hurdles to bring the measure to the floor.

Murkowski in an interview ahead of the final vote said southwestern Alaska public broadcasters’ transmission Wednesday of a tsunami warning after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake underscored the importance of protecting those entities. Public broadcasting “is not some kind of a radical leftist initiative to pollute people's minds,” contrary to some Republicans’ claims of pro-Democratic bias at NPR and PBS, which get CPB funding (see 2503210040), Murkowski told us. “This is a system that is designed to warn people of events just like this.”

The Senate voted 51-47 against an amendment from Murkowski and Collins that proposed rescinding only $16.66 million in advance CPB funding. Murkowski on the floor described the $8.33 million her proposal would have cut from CPB in both FY26 and FY27 as “the pot of money that can go directly to NPR.” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who spearheaded chamber consideration of HR-4, argued Murkowski’s amendment would “effectively fully fund [CPB when] we're almost there in our efforts to finally prevent federal funding” of NPR and PBS. The chamber also voted 51-47 to table a bid by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., to bring up an amendment from Collins that would have reduced the CPB funding rescission to $35.71 million annually for both FY26 and FY27, including the NPR-specific outlays.

The Senate voted 52-47 against an amendment led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., that would have removed the CPB funding rescission from HR-4 entirely. Collins notably voted against the proposal. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, argued against Baldwin’s amendment, saying that public broadcasting “has long been overtaken by partisan activists.” If “you want to watch left-wing propaganda, turn on MSNBC,” he said. “But the taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize it.”

“Eliminating this funding … would reduce or eliminate access to educational programming, local news and life-saving alerts during emergencies and natural disasters,” Baldwin said. “If my colleagues have concerns about this funding, I commit to working with you on those concerns as part of the appropriations process. That's where we should have these debates.” She questioned why Republicans were now raising their “grave” concerns about CPB funding when “these issues were not even raised as a part of our appropriation process during the past two years.”

The Senate also voted down three more motions to CPB-focused Democratic motions to recommit HR-4. The chamber on a voice vote rejected a motion from Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico that he said would bar rescission of “public broadcasting infrastructure funding … if it limits access to emergency alert systems and life-saving weather updates.” Senators similarly rejected a motion from Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey to bar CPB’s defunding if it would affect programming involving military veterans’ stories. The chamber also voted 50-47 against a motion from Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts to bar rescissions that would “cut access to children’s educational programming.”

America’s Public Television Stations CEO Kate Riley told us ahead of the Senate votes that the group would continue “fighting to oppose” House concurrence with the Senate-amended HR-4 “if our funding is still being rescinded.” Otherwise, on Oct. 1 CPB will “cease to exist” and local broadcasters “will not receive the funding that they rely on to provide essential services and education, public safety and local community connections,” she said. They also “won't have the support of CPB for all of those other functions that they rely on, which quite frankly, will be impossible for our smaller stations to replace.”

CPB CEO Patricia Harrison said the funding clawback will mean “many local public radio and television stations will be forced to shut down.” U.S. “taxpayers rightly expect and deserve public media to be reflective of and responsive to the local voices it serves and deliver accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news and information,” she said. “Rather than dismantle public media, we should fund and strengthen it.”

Meanwhile, NPR CEO Katherine Maher during a Thursday CNN appearance pushed back against “accusations that we’re biased.” She said critics should “show me a story that concerns you,” a comment that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and others derided. Republicans first seized upon Maher’s own past comments as proof of NPR’s bias soon after she took the organization’s reins in March 2024 (see 2404190060).