Congress is removing money from PBS and NPR

Donald Trump, the US President, has requested to remove more than 1 billion in support for public radio and TV stations around the US. The US Congress is determining this week whether it will go along with the request. The deadline for the result is 7/18/2025.

In June, Congress barely agreed on a new bill that Mr. Trump wished to accept. That bill removed taxes and is likely to increase about 3.3 trillion dollars to the total money the US is in debt for.

What Congress is determining now is unlike a new bill. It’s a group of “rescissions”. A rescission is a struggle to withdraw money that was already accepted. Mr. Trump asked for the rescissions a month ago, and the bill was approved by the House of Representatives on 6/12/25. The Senate is determining the bill now. By law, the rescissions must be accepted by Congress in 45 days, or they will not work. That deadline is Friday.

The rescissions bill aims for 1.1 billion dollars of removals at the CPB (Corporation of Public Broadcasting), which is recognized for its NPR radio network and PBS TV network.

Both PBS and NPR have popular news programs. PBS is recognized for its educational programs. These contain a lot of programs targeted for children, including “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street”. Significantly, public radio and TV stations assist many isolated places, where they offer one of the sources of emergency information and local news.

But Republicans have complained for a long time that the news broadcasting on these public stations is not reasonable. Before, Republicans have tried different methods to remove money from the CPB.

It would make life hard for PBS and NPR if the government money for the CPB were removed, but that won’t destroy them. PBS and NPR have plenty of support from other sources that they won’t end.

But removals to the CPB would still really harm minor stations in isolated locations. Most of these stations rely almost entirely on the US government. Without it, most of them would have to close.

It is rare for a president to attempt to make adjustments throughout rescissions. But the laws for approving rescissions are not as strict as they are for accepting a bill. That means that it is more possible that Mr. Trump can make the adjustments he wants to throughout rescissions. If they accept, Mr. Trump and his group say they wish to create other removals through rescissions, too.

Democrats say it will be difficult to believe Republicans if they create a routine of using rescissions to attempt to withdraw money they have already decided on.

The House barely accepted Mr. Trump’s rescissions bill, 214 – 212. Things are also predicted to be tight in the Senate, where a few Republicans have worries about the removals. Mr. Trump has said to the Republican senators that he won’t help them later if they don’t support his rescissions.

If the Senate accepts the bill, the House will need to accept it again. All of this should happen before 7/18/25, or the money will stay there.