Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., several Senate Democrats and the Writers Guild of America are questioning whether CBS’ Thursday announcement that it’s canceling The Late Show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, stemmed from Trump administration pressure related to the federal review of Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of network owner Paramount Global. That company recently reached a $16 million settlement in President Donald Trump's lawsuit over CBS’ editing of a 60 Minutes interview last October with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Some attorneys see that settlement as aimed at easing the path to FCC approval of Skydance's deal, but Paramount has denied those claims (see 2507020053).
President Donald Trump on Friday hailed the House’s passage (see 2507170045) just after midnight of a Senate-amended version of the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4), which includes a clawback of $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027. As expected, the House voted for HR-4 216-213, with only two Republicans -- Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio -- joining Democrats against the measure. Several Democratic leaders and other advocates predicted dire consequences for many local public broadcasters.
The Senate voted 50-34 Thursday to invoke cloture on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth, setting the stage for her likely confirmation next week. The vote divided largely along party lines, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to back Roth, as expected (see 2507160076). All Senate Commerce Democrats except Fetterman voted against advancing Roth in April amid frustrations about the Trump administration's plan for administering NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program (see 2504090037). President Donald Trump nominated Roth in February (see 2502040056).
Congressional Democrats are calling attention to reports that Fox News in June 2024 aired an edited version of an interview with now-President Donald Trump, with some citing it as a reason for the FCC to end what they see as partisan probes of CBS and other media outlets. House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., asked Fox Corp. Chairman Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott Thursday to explain the organization’s decision to air only part of Trump's answer to a question about whether he would release files related to accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The House was all but certain to sign off Thursday night on a revised version of its 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) retaining a clawback of $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 that the Senate passed 51-48 early that morning, as expected (see 2507160077). Senate passage of HR-4 followed several more unsuccessful bids to strip out the CPB language or dramatically reduce the amount of funding the measure rescinded. The Senate turned back several other Democratic-led CPB amendments Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Wednesday that votes are possible this week on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth but said the chamber’s schedule remains in flux. Thune filed cloture on Roth Tuesday night, putting her on track for confirmation before the August recess, as expected (see 2505290053). Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and lobbyists told us they expect the chamber to hold at least the initial cloture vote before the chamber leaves for the weekend. “I hope and believe it'll be this week,” Cruz said. The cloture motion on Roth ripens Thursday.
The Senate voted 50-34 Thursday to invoke cloture on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth, setting the stage for her confirmation next week. The vote divided largely along party lines, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to back Roth, as expected. All Senate Commerce Democrats except Fetterman voted against advancing Roth in April amid frustrations about the Trump administration's plan for administering NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. President Donald Trump nominated Roth in February.
The Senate was on track Wednesday to pass a revised version of the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) that retains language to claw back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027, despite opposition from Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Public broadcasting supporters continued pressing for some Republicans who voted Tuesday night to clear procedural hurdles for bringing HR-4 to the floor to vote against passing the measure. Senators were voting Wednesday afternoon on Democrats’ amendments to HR-4 after rejecting bids to jettison the CPB defunding language.
Supporters of the House-passed 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) bid to claw back $1.1 billion of CPB’s advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 got some momentum Tuesday as Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he will back the measure. Rounds indicated he had reached a deal with the White House OMB on an alternative funding source to provide money to Native American radio stations, as expected (see 2507100071). Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee advanced its FY26 budget bill, which would cut NTIA’s annual funding (see 2507140052).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday she’s considering filing an amendment to the House-passed 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) that would strike its proposed clawback of $1.1 billion in advance FY 2026 and FY 2027 funding for CPB. Public broadcasting supporters and opponents were gearing up Thursday for a showdown over the rescissions bid ahead of a potential Tuesday initial vote to begin work on an expected revised version of the measure. Meanwhile, a pair of Senate Commerce Republicans who are also on the Appropriations Committee indicated that they're still negotiating to address their concerns about how CPB defunding could affect rural public broadcasters.