Leaders of the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio appeared before the “DOGE subcommittee” on Wednesday in a congressional hearing in which the public broadcasters were severely criticized over programming and reporting that Republicans criticized as no longer trustworthy.
Although not yet annual, congressional hearings over public broadcast funding happen periodically on Capitol Hill and give both sides of the aisle a chance to air the latest culture war attacks on the opposition. The most famous hearing on public broadcasting occurred just after its launch, when in 1969, Fred Rogers appeared before Congress and explained how his show helps children grow emotionally and intellectually. His testimony was so eloquently delivered that one of his staunchest opponents on the subcommittee reversed his position immediately after Rogers spoke.
Alas, there was no Fred Rogers—or even Big Bird—on Capitol Hill yesterday so the heads of NPR and PBS, along with the head of Alaska Public Media—were left to defend the current state of public broadcasting on their own.
'Child Abuse'
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) opened the hearing by attacking PBS for airing what she thinks is objectional content. After discussing a show about transgenderism that aired on PBS, Greene accused the network of “child abuse” and claimed that the public’s rejection of transgender issues played a major role in President Trump’s “landslide” election win in November.
“PBS is one of the founders of the trans child abuse industry, all while taking taxpayer money brainwashing,” she said. “Transient children is an issue so hated by parents across the country that it was a driving force in the landslide Republican and Trump victory in the 2024 election cycle and presidential race.”
She went on to say that “the news that these entities produced is either resented or increasingly tuned out and turned off by most of the hard working Americans who are forced to pay for it. They no longer view NPR and PBS as trusted news sources. As a matter of fact, to these people, they're a threat.”
To illustrate her point, Greene displayed several screenshots of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and several Democratic Congress members appearing to give hand gestures that could be interpreted as the Nazi “seig heil” salute, and compared them to news coverage when Elon Musk appeared to give the same salute at Trump’s inauguration.
“When Elon Musk put his hand over his heart and extended it and told the American people his heart goes out to them, PBS News posted the clip, calling it a fascist Nazi salute and described how it was similar to the Seig Heil used by Nazis at their victory rallies,” Greene said. “Not once did PBS or NPR report on the numerous accounts of Democrats making the same gesture. AOC, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, somebody that lost a presidential race. Hillary Clinton, Tim Walz… why wasn't this treated exactly the same way? Well, is there not a standard in journalism today? Apparently, not.”
“I hear, respect and understand your concerns regarding bias,” responded Katherine Maher, Chief Executive Officer and President, National Public Radio, adding that “it is critical for [the] NPR newsroom to operate with the highest journalistic standards. That means that they do their jobs independently and as CEO, I have no editorial role at NPR.
“In other words, I do not decide what we cover or how we cover it,” Maher continued. “I lead NPR strategy ensuring we have resources and policies in place to serve all Americans, not just those with a specific point of view. I was brought into NPR to revive and reorient the organization and bring public media to a wider audience, a new generation and new platforms. We have a responsibility to serve Americans across the full political spectrum in a trustworthy, non partisan fashion.”
Changing Media Landscape
In addition to cultural issues, funding for public broadcasting was also brought into question in light of the rapid changes in how TV and radio are consumed by Americans today. With numerous streaming options and podcasts available on demand, questioning the value of public broadcasting in this new landscape is a legitimate concern.
“PBS stations are focused on the needs and interests of the viewers they serve, especially in rural areas."
Paula Kerger, PBS
Again, the arguments from both sides fell on predictable angles, with Democrats supporting the value of public television in strengthening local educational and community resources—particularly in rural areas—and Republicans questioning why taxpayer funds should be used to report what they consider “biased” news coverage and educational programming that is replicated elsewhere.
“PBS stations are focused on the needs and interests of the viewers they serve, especially in rural areas,” said PBS Paula Kerger, Chief Executive Officer and President for PBS. “PBS stations are the only outlet providing coverage of local events, for example, high school sports, local history and culture content, candidate debates at every level of the election, ballot and specialized agricultural news. Local stations also partner with other community organizations to address issues of concern, like Veterans Affairs and the opioid crisis. Finally, communities depend on the essential public safety information and emergency alerts our local stations provide. Our programming comes from our local stations.”
Maher noted that “the rise of podcasting has established a competitive free market for audio, news and information, and every day, I am honored to know that we have 43 million listeners from every state in the nation.
“Amidst this competition, local stations choose to become members of NPR for the value we provide,” Maher added. “For example, we are the only non pay walled news outlet with a dedicated reporter covering veterans issues. While NPR is only 25% of station programming on average, audiences for NPR bring the scale and revenue that subsidize essential local programming. Local public media journalism has never been more important to American families who consider it part of the fabric of their communities. It correlates with higher rates of civic engagement, greater civic cohesion and economic advantages, such as better municipal bond ratings. Recent independent polling found that more than 60% of all Americans and more than half of Republicans trust public broadcasting to deliver fact based news.”
Telling Conservatives to 'Get Lost'
Mike Gonzalez from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, excoriated public broadcasting for wasting money and being irrelevant in today’s fiscal environment. He prefaced his criticism by saying that his views were his own and didn’t represent those of his employer.
“For decades, they've asked for more money while telling conservatives to get lost,” Gonzales said. “But the nation today is in a very different place, with $36 trillion in debt. And more importantly, we're seeing not just a shift in our cultural vibe, but a shift in societal paradigms through their greatest bias; NPR and PBS have violated the public trust.”
Ed Ullman, president and CEO of Alaska Public Media defended public broadcasting’s importance, especially in rural areas.
“The people of Alaska rely on public media to provide free, universal access to essential services and public safety, education and community connections,” he told the committee. “This includes potentially life saving alerts, updates on community affairs, coverage of state and local government, proven educational content, engagement services and local and national news. In many parts of Alaska and communities throughout the country, public media is often the only locally operated, locally controlled broadcasting service. We are more than nice to have. We are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasting cannot succeed.”
NPR 'Not News'
Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) spoke about how he used to listen to NPR decades ago when working on a farm in Kentucky, adding that now “I don't even recognize the station anymore.”
We are more than nice to have. We are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasting cannot succeed.
Ed Ullman, Alaska Public Media
“It's not news, I feel like it's propaganda,” Comer said. “I feel like there's disinformation every time I listen to NPR. And, you know, a media entity like MSNBC or Huffington Post that, in my opinion, consistently spews disinformation; they can do that, they're a private company. But NPR gets federal funds and I have a problem with that, because if people in Alaska, if all they have is Public Radio, then all they know is what these headlines say, and they're wrong.”
In fiscal year 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was appropriated $535 million from Congress to fund both PBS and NPR. Maher defended the value of public broadcasting and outlined where the money goes.
“The vast majority of federal dollars—more than $100 million of the $121 million annual appropriation for public radio goes directly to 386 local, non commercial stations across the nation,” Maher said. “This highly efficient investment enables your local stations to raise an average of $7 for every federal dollar.
“As a grantee of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR received federal funding of $11.2 million last year,” Maher added. “These funds allow us to maintain the National Public Radio satellite system helping safeguard our national security, civil defense and disaster response and enabling public radio to reach every corner of America. Additionally, these funds help protect journalists covering our troops overseas and reverse the decline of local journalism.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr recently announced that the commission was opening an investigation into PBS and NPR running commercials, something that is prohibited by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. When asked about this allegation, both public broadcast officials replied that their organizations are following the law.
“We are in full compliance with the FCC inquiry and will continue to cooperate,” said Ms Kerger.
“We are underwriting announcements, and we believe we are in full compliance with the FCC, and we look forward to delivering the material required in this part of this investigation,” replied Ms. Maher.
Is Elmo a 'Commie?'
In an attempt to inject some humor into the two-plus hour hearing, several members of the subcommittee peppered Ms. Kerger and Ms. Maher with rhetorical questions designed to illustrate what they considered the absurd allegations made by their opponents. One came from a Republican on the committee.
“Ms. Kerger, the American people want to know, is Elmo now, or has he ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States? A yes or no. Now, are you sure, because he's obviously red,” asked Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.). “He also has a very dangerous message about sharing and helping each other. He's indoctrinating our kids that sharing is caring. Now maybe he's part of a major socialist plot, and maybe that's why the chairwoman is having this hearing today."
When asked about whether Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s campaign against fast food and baked goods is silencing Cookie Monster, Kerger replied that "cookies are a sometime food."
“I agree with you, and let's also talk about the most important character on Sesame Street, Big Bird," Garcia added. "Now, since Elon Musk actually fired USDA workers who have been working on the bird flu, does it make sense to also fire Big Bird? Yes or no?”
Mr. Kerger replied that “We would like to keep Big Bird.”
Rep. Gregorio Eduardo Casar, (D-Texas) complained that the subcommittee was wasting its time and instead should be investigating the man who created “DOGE.”
“The total funding for public broadcasting is just 1/6 the amount that Elon Musk's companies make off of the government every single year. But you will not see Elon Musk being grilled by this committee,” he said. “If we want to look into waste, fraud and abuse, why not look into that?
"Elon Musk, who's running cabinet meetings, who's running the White House, was trying to funnel money to himself," Casar added. "So let's stop investigating Cookie Monster and start investigating how the Trump administration lied about this and was trying to funnel money to their biggest political supporter. Maybe you're trying to defund NPR because they expose this kind of corruption.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement criticizing the committee's allegations. “Casting them as propaganda machines undeserving of taxpayer support is a dangerous mischaracterization that threatens to rob Americans of the vital reporting they need to make decisions about their lives,” said Jodie Ginsberg, the committee’s CEO.
