By a mere two votes, the full House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon approved the Rescissions Act of 2025, a move considered a victory for the Trump Administration in its quest to curtail all government funding of public broadcast organizations PBS and NPR.
A 214-212 vote was cast, pushing the legislation to the Senate for its approval or ultimate demise. Should the upper body of Congress say yes to the current legislation, some $1.1 billion for public broadcasting would be “clawed back” as part of a $9.4 billion budget subtraction initiative initiated by the White House.
As the dollars allocated to public media were already approved, both PBS and NPR, as well as organizations APTS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting, have been vocal in their opposition of the bill, H.R. 4 in the House. As reported by Deadline, the bill would return $535 million in funding for fiscal year 2026 and $535 million in funding for fiscal year 2027 to government coffers. Congress had already allocated the money to the CPB.
In a social media post moments before the floor vote on Capitol Hill, President Trump stated, “For decades, Republicans have promised to cut NPR, but have never done it, until now … The Rescissions Bill is a NO BRAINER, and every single Republican in Congress should vote, ‘YES.’ MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The bill saw a yes vote from Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). Yet, the House Appropriations Committee Member stated, “I am concerned about the future of trying to do away with public television. I’m a supporter of public television in Idaho, they do a fantastic job.”
The legislation would also revoke $8.3 billion in foreign aid.
Now, the pressure is on for the Senate to act … or not. Should a vote fail to transpire by July 18, the legislation will fade into oblivion, keeping the current authorized budget allocations and government spending in place.
America’s Public Television Stations President/CEO Kate Riley said APTS is “deeply disappointed that the House voted to completely defund the local public television stations throughout this country that provide exceptional lifesaving public safety services, proven educational services and community connections to their communities every day for free. The vast majority of these devastating cuts will be borne by local public media stations and the communities that rely on them — many of which have no other access to locally controlled media.”
Riley added that federal funding “is essential to ensuring that all Americans have universal access to the exceptional public services that local stations provide regardless of zip code or income level. This includes the over 160 locally operated and controlled public television stations that serve communities small and large throughout this country. All of this will be in jeopardy if the rescissions package passes the Senate.”
