The US$1.1 billion currently allocated to public media by the US government remains in limbo, as the US Senate narrowly voted yesterday in favor of debating a proposal to cut these funds that support PBS KIDS and local stations. 

With 51-50 in favor—thanks to US Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote—the Senate will now discuss clawing back a total of US$9.4 billion in funding, US$8.3 billion of which goes to foreign aid. It’s worth noting that a few Republicans—Senators Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins—switched sides to vote with all of the Democrats and Independents against considering these cuts.

The US$1.1-billion cut to public media would entirely eliminate the funding that Congress had already allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the next two budget years—slashing funds that would have gone to 1,500 local stations, as well as programming on PBS and NPR. 

PBS receives 15% of its total annual budget from federal funding, which is needed to keep local affiliates running, according to the organization. PBS and its member stations receive money from other sources as well, including corporate sponsorships, grants and donations. But losing the CPB funding would still be a major blow, since this money goes toward the operating budgets of stations and programming. If the stations have fewer dollars to spend—or can’t keep the lights on—producers/distributors could see fewer commissions and acquisitions as a result. 

The US House of Representatives already approved the cuts last month, so now it’s down to the Senate, which is expected to hold a final vote on the cuts this week, since there’s a Friday deadline to get the package onto US President Donald Trump’s desk. If it isn’t approved by midnight on Friday, the White House will be forced to resume dispersing the money. 

Trump signed an executive order slashing the funding in May. In his order, he said the cuts would “ensure that federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage.”

PBS and NPR have both filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over the proposed cuts. PBS argues the president’s order violates its First Amendment rights, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. 

Image by Jens Junge from Pixabay.