Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) believe American taxpayers shouldn’t be keeping National Public Radio (NPR) afloat.
The pair are introducing legislation in their respective chambers to put an end to taxpayer subsidizing of the notoriously left-leaning media outlet, Breitbart News learned exclusively Wednesday.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund NPR’s liberal propaganda,” Banks told Breitbart News. “If NPR can’t stay afloat without government funding, that tells you all you need to know about the quality of their news.”
Banks’ Defund NPR Act would prohibit federal funding for National Public Radio by amending section 396 of the Communications Act so that no funds may, directly or indirectly, be made available to or used to support the National Public Radio, including through the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from the organization.
Cammack is taking the lead across the Capitol.
“I’m glad to join my longtime friend, Sen. Banks, in introducing the Defund NPR Act in the House,” Cammack told Breitbart News in a statement. “Last Congress, the Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing about the status of NPR and how federal funds are often used for left-wing activism under the journalism moniker. For too long, NPR cherry-picked its coverage in favor of its majority Democrat listeners—87 percent according to a Pew Research Survey—from failing to cover an assassination attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 to ignoring former President Joe Biden’s business dealings with his son Hunter in 2020.
“Federal funds shouldn’t be available to NPR.”
During the 2024 election, NPR portrayed President Trump as a dangerous threat to democracy and the Constitution and held a clear editorial bias towards Kamala Harris despite having an obligation to act impartially as a public organization.
NPR was established to broadcast truth to the American people, but its leftwing academic-fueled ideology has prevented it from fulfilling its sole purpose.
As its ideological bias has metastasized, NPR has become a thinly-veiled leftist propaganda machine. In 2022, NPR’s new CEO claimed “our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting important things done.”
On January 29, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered an investigation into NPR and PBS for their potential violation of federal regulations by airing announcements on behalf of for-profit entities.
President Donald Trump’s new FCC Chair Brendan Carr wrote a letter to the presidents and chief executives of NPR and PBS expressing concern that “it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements,” Breitbart News’ Katherine Hamilton reported.
According to Carr, “for-profit entities that contribute funds to NCE stations may receive on-air acknowledgements, but the FCC has long held that these underwriting announcements are for identification purposes only.” In the letter, Carr said he does not “see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS” if they are “being used to support a for profit endeavor.”
If Banks and Cammack get their way, NPR will have to propagandize without taxpayer support or the veil of nonpartisanship provided by its government affiliation.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye
