President Trump has formally asked Congress to rescind $1.1 billion previously approved for NPR, PBS and international aid programs.
According to CBS News, the full rescission package seeks to cancel $9.4 billion in previously appropriated funds, aiming to make permanent some of the Department of Government Efficiency’s recent spending reductions. It primarily targets cuts to foreign assistance and major public broadcasting entities.
The president ordered the federal government to stop funding NPR and PBS in an executive order on May 2.
In a memo to staff obtained by Ben Mullin of The New York Times, NPR CEO Katherine Maher said Tuesday that if funding already approved by Congress is rescinded, the effect would be immediate: “CPB will not have funds to distribute to stations by autumn of this year.”
“The most devastating impact would be to the local public media stations that rely on these funds to operate,” she wrote.
Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that federal funding for the public broadcasting system is “irreplaceable.”
The Office of Management and Budget’s formal request initiates a process that gives Congress 45 days to respond. First, the proposal is reviewed by relevant committees, then it may be brought to a vote by the full House and Senate.
