Fireworks are expected on Capitol Hill this Wednesday as the CEOs of NPR and PBS are set to testify in front of the House of Representatives’ newly-formed Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee.
The hearing is anticipated to shed light on the public broadcasters’ use of federal funds and their alleged ideological bias in reporting.
DOGE Subcommittee Chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) sent letters last month inviting NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger to defend their organizations’ continued receipt of taxpayer money.
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Greene has accused the two broadcasters of engaging in “blatantly ideological and partisan coverage” and emphasized that they must justify why they should continue to receive federal funding.
Ahead of the hearing, PBS’s Kerger told The New York Times, “Everything is at stake. The future of a number of our stations across the country will be in jeopardy if this funding is not continued.”
The statement underscores the stakes for public broadcasting, which relies heavily on government funding to support its operations.
President Donald Trump, when asked about the hearing, expressed support for cutting funding to both NPR and PBS. “I would love to do that,” Trump said on Tuesday.
“I think it’s very unfair. It’s been very biased—the whole group, the whole group of them.”
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Trump further argued that taxpayer dollars allocated to the two organizations were “being wasted” and stated he would be “honored” to cut their funding.
President Trump wants to defund NPR and PBS.
Do you agree?@DOGECommittee will question the leaders of NPR & PBS at 10 AM tomorrow.
You won’t want to miss it. https://t.co/W7J7HhCiFw pic.twitter.com/jcKkkq843W
— DOGE Subcommittee (@DOGECommittee) March 25, 2025
DePauw University journalism professor Jeffrey McCall offered his perspective on the upcoming testimony, stating that Maher and Kerger may face significant challenges in defending their organizations.
“There is basically nothing Kerger and Maher can say that will undo the track record PBS and NPR have put together over the years,” McCall told Fox News Digital.
“If the public broadcasting executives try to claim they are centrist, they will lose all credibility. If they admit to being left-leaning, they also lose. And they could hardly promise to be more professional in order to save their funding, because such promises would sound hollow.”
In her letters to Kerger and Maher, Rep. Greene cited numerous examples of what she described as partisan coverage.
Among these was NPR’s dismissal of the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020, as well as a bombshell essay from former NPR editor Uri Berliner, who criticized the outlet’s far-left newsroom culture.
Greene also pointed to PBS’s reporting in January, which inaccurately suggested that billionaire Elon Musk, co-founder of the Department of Government Efficiency, had given a “fascist salute.”
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Greene argued that this type of bias “betrays the principles of objective reporting and undermines public trust.”
She further noted that as recipients of federal funds, NPR and PBS have an obligation to provide balanced reporting that serves the entire public, not just a select group of like-minded individuals or ideological interest groups.
“This hearing is an opportunity for you to explain to Congress and the American people why federal funds should be used for public television—particularly the sort of content produced by PBS,” Greene stated in her letter to Kerger, echoing similar sentiments to Maher.
Former NPR editor Uri Berliner, now a contributing editor for The Free Press, has outlined several pointed questions he would ask Maher at the hearing.
These include whether NPR regrets its past coverage, particularly surrounding the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, and whether the organization has taken steps to expand viewpoint diversity in its newsroom.
Berliner also questioned whether NPR would consider restructuring its finances to empower local stations.
McCall, who previously served as a news director for an NPR affiliate, noted that NPR and PBS were founded in a different media landscape but now “appeal to a rather narrow audience” and no longer justify taxpayer funding.
“I think there are good reasons to have left-leaning news outlets in the journalism sphere,” McCall told Fox News Digital.
“The issue in today’s landscape is who should pay for it. Any government that provides taxpayer dollars for presenting approved points of view, right or left, is leaning toward propaganda.”
NPR’s financial disclosures reveal that the organization receives 38% of its revenue from corporate sponsorships, 31% from “core and other programming fees,” 13% from contributions, 7% from other revenues, 5% from satellite interconnection and distribution, 5% from endowments, and 1% from investments.
Despite downplaying the significance of its government funding, NPR admits that the loss of federal funding would undermine the ability of local stations to pay NPR for programming, which could weaken the institution.
PBS also relies on federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which allocates approximately $500 million annually to public broadcasting, including national programming for PBS and NPR.
According to PBS, “The News Hour” receives about 35% of its annual funding from CPB and PBS, with the remaining 65% generated from individual donations, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships.
In addition to federal funding, PBS receives support from the PBS Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks philanthropic gifts and grants to fund its operations.
Despite these sources of income, both NPR and PBS continue to emphasize the necessity of federal funding for their survival.
As the testimony approaches, all eyes will be on how Maher and Kerger address the growing concerns over federal funding for public broadcasting and whether they can convince lawmakers to continue their financial support amidst the ongoing debate over ideological bias in media.
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