The US Senate voted narrowly on Tuesday evening to advance legislation that would eliminate $1.1 billion in federal funding for PBS, NPR and public media over the next two years.
Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 51-50 tie, allowing the package to move forward for a final vote expected within days. Three Republican senators – Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – joined all Democrats and independents in opposing the measure.
The cuts would eliminate all federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the government entity established nearly 60 years ago to distribute grants to public media outlets across the country.
The legislation is part of a broader $9 billion package of spending cuts that also targets foreign aid and health programs. The House of Representatives already approved the measure last month by a narrow 214-212 margin.
Congress has until Friday to pass the package, or the funding will remain in the federal budget as originally planned. President Trump has long criticized public broadcasting for what he calls liberal bias and has threatened to withhold political support from any lawmaker who votes against the cuts.
“This is in our view a misuse of taxpayer dollars,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday. “They’re biased reporting, they’re not objective.”
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer argued the cuts would harm rural and Native American communities that rely heavily on public broadcasting for weather alerts, local news, and educational programming.
“These cuts couldn’t come at a worse time,” Schumer said, citing recent flooding in Texas as an example of when public broadcasting provides crucial emergency information.
Senator Murkowski, one of the Republicans opposing the measure, suggested addressing concerns about bias rather than eliminating public broadcasting entirely. “That doesn’t mean we need to gut the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” she said.
The Trump administration has assured lawmakers it will find alternative funding to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.
