Public media braces for the worst

Politico

21-07-2025

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Staffers at local NPR and PBS stations around the country were devastated by the news last week that Congress approved $1.1 billion in federal funding cuts to public media, a move that could jeopardize the futures of dozens of stations.
Small, as well as rural, public media stations that heavily rely on federal funding to operate are now bracing for the unknown after Congress approved a package on Thursday that will claw back Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding.
Some stations say they're being punished over a fight between President DONALD TRUMP and the national public broadcasting organizations that have little relationship to the service smaller outlets offer their communities.
'I think [lawmakers'] decisions were not informed,' said DON DUNLAP, president and general manager of KEDT-TV/FM, a public radio and TV station in Corpus Christi, Texas. 'We're there to help people. There are 10 public TV stations in Texas, and we're thinking probably six of them will close down within a year.'
In April, Trump asked Congress to roll back funding for NPR and PBS, which he has long accused of bias against him and other Republicans — a claim both outlets have denied. The public media cuts are one aspect of the Trump administration's aggressive campaign against media outlets it deems as partisan. Trump has taken legal action against several news organizations, including CBS, ABC and The Wall Street Journal, over unfavorable coverage.
Several station heads told POLITICO they've been preparing for potential cuts since the Trump administration first floated the idea earlier this year.
For hundreds of stations, federal money makes up a significant portion of their total funding. According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, about 45 percent of all public media stations that received their grants are in rural areas, and nearly half of those rely on CPB for 25 percent or more of their annual budget.
Without federal funding, those stations may be forced into layoffs and programming cuts, if they're able to survive at all.
According to data obtained by POLITICO, 34 public radio and TV stations receive at least 50 percent of their funding from federal grants. Twelve of those stations are in Alaska.
'We can't fundraise our way out of this. We have to make other decisions,' said MOLLIE KABLER, executive director of CoastAlaska, which oversees six public radio stations in southern Alaska. 'We have to consider, 'What services are we going to give up? What people are we going to let go of? And how can we find a way to collaborate and retain service for Alaskans?''
Public media staffers from local affiliates to the national networks have been lobbying Republicans in Congress for weeks in hopes of staving off the cuts. In the end, only four Republicans in both chambers voted against the final version of the package, which also included cuts to foreign aid: Sens. LISA MURKOWSKI of Alaska and SUSAN COLLINS of Maine, and Reps. MIKE TURNER of Ohio and BRIAN FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania.
'NPR and PBS decide how to allocate their budgets, so any potential effects to news stations will stem from their own budget choices – not federal spending reductions,' a House leadership aide said in a statement. 'It's up to the networks to manage funds wisely and root out waste so rural stations can succeed.'
Representatives for Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson refuted claims that local NPR and PBS affiliates had remained nonpartisan, saying in a statement they had 'politicized their own coverage by relying on syndicated programming from their national org.'
'Democratic paper-pushers masquerading as reporters don't deserve taxpayer subsidies, and NPR and PBS will have to learn to survive on their own,' said White House principal deputy press secretary HARRISON FIELDS. 'Unfortunately for them, their only lifeline was taxpayer dollars, and that ended when President Trump was sworn in.'
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POTUS PUZZLER
Which former president served for 18 years in Congress after his presidency?
(Answer at bottom.)
Agenda Setting
NEW GSA HEAD: Trump today appointed MIKE RIGAS as acting administrator of the General Services Administration, Sophia reports, effectively layering DOGE-aligned STEPHEN EHIKIAN and JOSH GRUENBAUM atop the agency.
GSA staffers and people close to DOGE view the appointment as a strategic move by the White House to rein in Ehikian, the former acting administrator, and Gruenbaum, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service within GSA. They were chosen by DOGE's former operational lead, STEVE DAVIS, to lead DOGE after Davis and ELON MUSK left government, according to three people familiar with the internal workings of DOGE and GSA, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
The change in leadership is a notable shift for GSA, one of two federal agencies that Musk came closest to controlling earlier this year. It's also the most significant public step the White House has taken to diminish the role of Musk loyalists following his exit.
'The GSA has been a pillar of this success, and the President has full confidence in their ongoing work to advance this transformative agenda,' Fields, the White House spokesperson, said in a statement.
WSJ BOOTED: The White House is removing The Wall Street Journal from the pool of reporters covering the president's weekend trip to Scotland, White House press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT told POLITICO, our ELI STOKOLS and Irie report.
The move follows the Journal's report last week alleging that Trump sent a sexually suggestive message to JEFFREY EPSTEIN in 2003. Trump has denied the existence of the letter and POLITICO has not verified it.
TARINI PARTI, a White House reporter for the Journal who did not have a byline on the Epstein story, had been scheduled to serve as the print pooler for the final two days of Trump's four-day trip to his golf courses in Scotland. But the White House, which earlier this year took over control of pool rotations from the White House Correspondents' Association, removed her from the trip manifest, Leavitt said.
'Due to the Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board' Air Force One, Leavitt said in a statement.
A Journal spokesperson declined to comment. A White House spokesperson declined to comment on whether the Journal would be included in the pool in the future, either on the White House campus or on subsequent trips.
FINAL CBO SCORE: The Congressional Budget Office today released its final prediction for how the GOP megalaw will grow the national debt and impact American households over the next decade, our JENNIFER SCHOLTES, ROBERT KING and BENJAMIN GUGGENHEIM report.
Over the next decade, Trump's signature legislation would increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion and cause 10 million people to lose health insurance, the CBO forecasts. While the law would save more than $1 trillion by cutting federal spending on health care — with the majority coming from Medicaid — CBO predicts that the package's costs will far outweigh its savings.
Following the report's release, Leavitt told reporters outside the White House the legislation was 'a fiscally responsible bill, one of the most fiscally conservative pieces of legislation for its size that has ever crossed through Capitol Hill.' She emphasized that Trump 'wants to cut our deficit' and said he would do so with tariff revenue.
In the Courts
SHOW ME THE MONEY: A federal judge ruled today that the Trump administration is violating the law by concealing how it spends congressionally appropriated funds by taking down a public website that displayed that information, our ERICA ORDEN writes in.
In a 60-page decision, U.S. District Judge EMMET SULLIVAN wrote that 'there is nothing unconstitutional about Congress requiring the Executive Branch to inform the public of how it is apportioning the public's money.' Sullivan, an appointee of BILL CLINTON, added: 'Defendants are therefore required to stop violating the law!'
Sullivan ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the database, but paused his order until Thursday to allow time for an appeal. The ruling is a win for the nonprofits Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Protect Democracy Project, both of which sued the OMB and its director, RUSS VOUGHT. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
ACCESS TO COUNSEL: A federal judge today ordered the administration to reinstate a policy to provide legal counsel to immigrants in deportation proceedings who are deemed mentally incompetent, our KYLE CHENEY writes in. U.S. District Judge AMIR ALI concluded that the administration had failed to justify eliminating the policy, leaving vulnerable people at risk during complex proceedings.
Ali, an appointee of JOE BIDEN, noted that the program had helped thousands of immigrants with mental disabilities access counsel during immigration cases, and when it was cut from DOJ's books earlier this year, the only explanation was that it was for 'convenience.' A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
DEFYING THE COURTS, BY THE NUMBERS: Trump administration officials have been accused of defying the courts in a third of lawsuits in which a judge has delivered a substantive ruling against the administration, WaPo's JUSTIN JOUVENAL reports.
A Post analysis of more than 337 lawsuits brought against the administration found that judges had ruled against the Trump administration in 165 lawsuits, as of mid-July. The administration has been 'accused of defying or frustrating court oversight in 57 of those cases — almost 35 percent,' the analysis found. Trump officials, who accuse the courts of 'judicial tyranny,' have denied defying the orders.
Fields in a statement called judges who have ruled against the president 'leftist' and said the president's attorneys 'are working tirelessly to comply' with rulings. 'If not for the leadership of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Branch would collapse into a kangaroo court,' he said.
What We're Reading
How the 2017 Trump tax cuts ballooned the 'big, beautiful bill' (POLITICO's Taylor Miller Thomas, Paula Friedrich and Jonathan Lai)
6 months after DOGE upended their lives, 6 former federal workers reveal their advice for others (Business Insider's Ayelet Sheffey, Jack Newsham, Juliana Kaplan, and Alice Tecotzky)
When Getting Fired Is Only the Beginning for Federal Workers (NYT's Eileen Sullivan)
Donald Trump's Tariff Dealmaker-in-Chief (The New Yorker's Antonia Hitchens)
As Trump's raids ramp up, a Texas region's residents stay inside — even when they need medical care (AP's Amanda Seitz and Jacquelyn Martin)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
That would be former President JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, who served nearly two decades in Congress after concluding his term as sixth president of the United States in 1829. Adams suffered a stroke at his desk in the House chamber and ultimately died in the speaker's office. (Source: The Library of Congress)