Members of Congress push back on proposed CPB rescission

Members of Congress, including the bipartisan co-chairs of the Public Broadcasting Caucus and Senate Democrats, are pushing back on the proposed rescission of CPB funding. 

President Trump has proposed clawing back $535 million in CPB’s forward-funded appropriations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 as part of a broader $9.4 billion rescission package. The Rescissions Act of 2025 is working its way through the House this week. 

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nevada) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) released a joint statement Tuesday urging the Trump administration to reconsider the CPB rescission. Goldman has also sponsored an amendment that proposes to strike the claw back of CPB funds from the House bill. 

“As Co-Chairs of the Public Broadcasting Caucus, we feel it is our responsibility to protect the lifeline public media plays in the day-to-day lives of our constituents,” Amodei and Goldman wrote. “Above all, we seek to preserve non-commercial, community-rooted content that informs, protects, and connects all Americans, regardless of zip code or political affiliation.” 

Nearly 30 Senate Democrats also signed a June 4 letter to Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) opposing the rescission of CPB funds. 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and 28 additional Democratic senators co-signed the letter, which was posted on Murphy’s website.

“Our public broadcasting system is a unique American institution that is deeply embedded in our communities and a critical source of lifesaving public safety services, accurate information, and educational programming,” the letter states. “… These cuts will have an immediate and significant impact for stations in rural communities that heavily rely on CPB funding to provide critical services and could likely result in the elimination of programming or outright closure of stations in areas already faced with limited connectivity.”

The Senators’ letter noted the public safety and early childhood education value of public media. 

“Millions of people across the country whose stations rely on CPB funding for a significant percentage of their budget would be at risk of losing access to public television’s services,” they wrote. “These are services that nobody else in the media world is providing, but it’s exactly the work for which public broadcasting was created, and they are delivering to our communities every day.”

In their joint statement, Reps. Amodei and Goldman also cited public media’s emergency alerting capabilities. In many cases, public media is the only reliable media service available in rural areas. 

“Of the 544 radio and television stations that receive federal funding, 245 serve rural communities and collectively support more than 5,950 local jobs,” Amodei and Goldman wrote. “Rural broadcasters face significant challenges in raising private funds, making them particularly vulnerable if government funding is cut.”