WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced the Defund NPR Act, which amends section 396 of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 396), ensuring no federal funds, direct or indirect, support NPR, including dues or programming purchases.
Sen. Banks (R-Ind.): “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund NPR’s liberal propaganda. If NPR can’t stay afloat without government funding, that tells you all you need to know about the quality of their news.”
Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03) “I’m glad to join my longtime friend, Senator Banks, in introducing the Defund NPR Act in the House. Last Congress, the Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing about the status of NPR and how federal funds are often used for left-wing activism under the journalism moniker. For too long, NPR cherry-picked its coverage in favor of its majority Democrat listeners—87 percent according to a Pew Research Survey—from failing to cover an assassination attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 to ignoring former President Joe Biden’s business dealings with his son Hunter in 2020. Federal funds shouldn’t be available to NPR.”
Full text of the bill can be found here.
Background:
CEO of NPR, Katherine Maher, has described the First Amendment as “the number one challenge” to combatting “misinformation,” and has attacked former President Donald Trump on social media on several occasions.
In 2019, NPR published an erroneous “correction” after then-Congressman Banks correctly stated that Adam Schiff lied about his relationship with Ukraine “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella during an on-air interview. According to a recent report from Real Clear Investigations, Mr. Ciaramella accompanied then-Vice President Biden on his trip to Ukraine in 2015, at which the former Vice President demanded the Ukrainian government fire prosecutor Victor Shokin.
In 2024, NPR Senior Editor Uri Berliner wrote an essay exposing how NPR’s editorial decisions had been taken over liberals. He noted that he “found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None.”
On January 29 of this year, FCC Chairman Brandon Carr ordered an investigation into NPR and PBS for potential violations of federal regulations by airing announcements for for-profit entities.