Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn introduced a bill on Wednesday to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
On May 1, Trump’s “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media” executive order emphasized that NPR and PBS no longer provide “fair, accurate, or unbiased news,” further claiming that continued taxpayer support for the outlets is “corrosive” to journalistic independence and “outdated” in today’s diverse media environment.
The executive order directs all federal funds issued via “grants, contracts, or other funding instruments” to NPR and PBS be identified and ceased by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Board of Directors and all executive departments and agencies.
Blackburn’s bill, called the Free Americans from Ideological Reporting (FAIR) Act, would codify Trump’s May 1 executive order by permanently barring the CPB from both directly or indirectly funding NPR and PBS by “ensuring that licensees and permittees of public radio and television stations, as well as any other recipients of CPB funds, do not use Federal funds for NPR and PBS.”
The heads of all agencies would also be required to identify and terminate direct or indirect funding of NPR and PBS under the FAIR Act.
The CPB, which was allocated $535 million in Fiscal Year 2025 by Congress, has pushed back on Trump’s efforts to cease federal funding for the public media outlets and claw back on funding for CPB moving forward, arguing that “American taxpayers rely upon and trust public media for high quality educational content, information, and life-saving alerts.”
This, despite NPR being found to employ only registered Democrats in the newsroom’s editorial positions, PBS stations featuring programs pushing gender and racial ideologies, and other efforts deemed “biased” and “partisan” by the White House.
“For far too long, American taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for NPR and PBS while they push left-wing propaganda,” Blackburn said in a statement first shared with The Tennessee Star.
“The FAIR Act would cut off taxpayer funding to these partisan outlets, ensuring the American people aren’t forced to subsidize media that disparages conservatives and does the left’s bidding,” Blackburn added.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) is also spearheading an effort to codify Trump’s “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media” executive order as well as a number of other executive orders issued by the president.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Sen. Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
“quality educational content, information, and life-saving alerts” are all over the internet, roku, and every other platform for free, or a small app fee, for many years ….
THIS is their reasoning – WOW.
NO MORE Taxpayer Subsidization ! Please make this finally happen Senators.