The Donald Trump administration yesterday formally asked Congress to withdraw $1.1 bn in funding allocated to PBS over the next two years.
According to local media reports, among the documents sent to Congress was a letter from Russell Waters, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to President Donald Trump, “Federal spending on public broadcasters subsidizes a politically biased public media system, which is an unnecessary expense for taxpayers,” it said
The proposed PBS budget cuts are reported to be part of a $9.4 bn package of cuts aimed at foreign aid through the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development.
In its budget addendum for fiscal year 2026, released on May 30th, the White House proposed cutting federal funding for PBS to $30M, “To end federal support for the company in an orderly manner.”.
The Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) is an independent nonprofit organization established under the Public Broadcasting Act 1967 to allocate funds to public media entities such as the public broadcasting television network and the National Public Broadcasting Station and their members. Donald Trump has been trying to stop official funding for media he considers “Biased”. Donald Trump signed an executive order in early May ending federal funding for public broadcasting.
On 27 May, NPR sued the government, alleging that the executive order violated its rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution. PBS filed a similar lawsuit against the government on May 30.