South Dakota Senator will back rescission after finding money for tribal stations
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Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., says he will vote for the rescission package that would claw back CPB funds after ensuring funding for tribal broadcast services.
“We wanted to make sure tribal broadcast services in South Dakota continued to operate which provide potentially lifesaving emergency alerts,” Rounds posted Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We worked with the Trump administration to find Green New Deal money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.”
The Hill reported that Rounds had held off on backing the Trump administration’s $9.4 billion rescission package, which faces a Friday deadline for passage in the Senate.
The rescissions include clawing back $535 million annually in CPB’s forward-funded appropriations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. It passed the House June 12, 214-212, with four Republicans voting against it.
On Wednesday, America’s Public Television Stations issued a statement in which CEO Kate Riley said APTS was deeply concerned by the “side deal.”
“The reported Administration promise to reallocate funding from the Department of the Interior to provide one-time support to Tribal public media stations is at best a short-term, half-measure that will still result in cuts and reduced service at the stations it purports to save, while leaving behind all other stations, including many that serve Native populations,” Riley said.
Riley also pointed out support that CPB provides to stations, such as interconnection and distribution infrastructure, emergency relief grants, professional development and special initiatives tailored to Native and rural service areas.
“Providing isolated support to stations without the surrounding ecosystem of systemwide investment and administration would lead to station collapse and service disruption, particularly in rural, Tribal and underserved communities,” Riley said.
The rescission package needs only a simple majority in the Senate, not the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. Several Republican senators have expressed concern about the package.
This story has been updated to include a statement from APTS CEO Kate Riley.
