Hi -- Last night, Donald Trump issued an executive order
directing "all executive departments and agencies to cease Federal funding
for NPR and PBS."^1
In addition, Congress is preparing to vote on a measure that would force
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to GIVE BACK $1.1 billion
appropriated by Congress during the Biden administration.^2
This is a red-alert emergency for public media, and Demand Progress is
mobilizing grassroots support to help stop these attacks.
[ [link removed] ]Will you make a donation to support our work, including our efforts to
save public broadcasting?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
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For more information about the attacks on public media, please read the
email we sent earlier this week, pasted below.
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Hi,
Donald Trump is pushing to completely eliminate all federal funding for
PBS and public radio — and the House of Representatives is expected to
vote next week on a draconian measure that would force them to give back
$1.1 billion in past funding.^3
This is not a drill. This would be a crushing blow to PBS and public radio
stations around the country.
Demand Progress has mobilized tens of thousands of people to contact
Congress and help stop the defunding of public broadcasting. With this
critical vote fast approaching, we need to turn up the pressure.
[ [link removed] ]Will you make a donation to support our work, including our efforts to
save public broadcasting?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately.
[ [link removed] ]Donate $10
[ [link removed] ]Donate $20
[ [link removed] ]Donate $40
[ [link removed] ]Or, donate another amount
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) represents a tiny fraction
of the federal budget, but it is an essential source of funding for more
than 1,500 local public television and radio stations around the country.
Over 70% of the CPB's funding is passed through to locally owned public
radio and television stations.^4
That funding has made it possible for generations of kids to benefit from
educational programming like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers'
Neighborhood. In addition, public broadcasting is a vital source of
reliable news and information, especially in rural areas where local
newspapers have disappeared.
That's why a majority of the American people support funding public
broadcasting by a nearly 20 point margin.^5
Yet Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked public broadcasting for years,
calling it a "total scam" and a "liberal disinformation machine."^6 In
fact, news broke yesterday that he fired three of the five members of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting's board as part of his escalating
attacks.
Trump's attempts to defund public broadcasting were stopped in his first
term, and we're fighting even harder to stop him this time around.
[ [link removed] ]That's why we're asking you today: Will you donate $10
to help stop the defunding of public broadcasting, and push for other key
reforms?
With gratitude,
The team at Demand Progress Action
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. The New York Times, "Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking to End Federal
Funding for NPR and PBS," [ [link removed] ]May 2, 2025.
2. Punchbowl News, "House Republican leaders eye rescissions vote in early
May," [ [link removed] ]April 21, 2025.
3. Punchbowl News, "House Republican leaders eye rescissions vote in early
May," [ [link removed] ]April 21, 2025.
4. WHYY, "‘Essential’ or ‘propaganda’: Pa. lawmakers differ on support for
Trump’s call to eliminate funding of NPR and PBS," [ [link removed] ]April 25, 2025.
5. Pew Research Center, "Americans more likely to support than oppose
continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS," [ [link removed] ]March 26, 2025.
6. Newsweek, "Donald Trump Demands NPR Lose Funding," [ [link removed] ]April 10, 2025.
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