WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, said she supports President Donald Trump’s executive order to end tax funds for the left-leaning outlets PBS and NPR.
U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republicans, stopped short of a wholesale endorsement of Trump’s order but did express ideological and budget concerns over continued funding for those news operations.
Trump’s legal authority to starve the outlets of tax money was immediately challenged by PBS, NPR and the non-profit group that oversees them — the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which was created by Congress in 1967.
Meanwhile, there is a second line of attack ongoing against the outlets: legislation in both chambers of Congress. Those bills would defund the CPB altogether, whereas Trump’s more nuanced order directs the CPB’s board of directors to stop funding PBS and NPR.
Trump’s order, issued Thursday night, also tells all federal agencies to cut off “direct or indirect” funding for PBS and NPR.
Hageman: Trust Has Been Lost
Trump’s order is “a direct response to what he is hearing from voters all over the country — we don't need to be funding leftist propaganda,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“Public trust in these news outlets has been lost and their support of a singular partisan narrative is an affront to the diverse beliefs of the American people who fund it through their tax dollars,” the congresswoman said. “I stand behind the president's directive that public broadcasting should lose public funding and rely on the support of those who consume their product, just as any other media source must."
PBS and NPR get some of their money from private donations as well as the taxpayer-funded CPB. The CPB, according to its website, gets about $500 million a year in federal money, which goes into national programming as well as stations coast to coast.
“Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options,” Trump’s order says. “At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.”
The law establishing the CPB contains principles of impartiality, and the CPB is violating the law through its support of PBS and NPR, according to the order.
Mission Failure, National Debt Crisis
Barrasso, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, said he agrees that the national PBS and NPR news operations are biased.
“The American people expect publicly funded television and radio programming to present straightforward, factual news and content that is free of political bias,” Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “National PBS and NPR stations have failed to meet this standard. Taxpayers are right to want real value for their hard-earned money.”
Lummis on Friday addressed Trump’s order in the context of the nation’s exploding debt as Congress and the president work on the U.S. budget.
“As I've repeatedly said, I think everything needs to be on the table,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “We are nearly $37 trillion in debt and that means that some programs won’t continue to be funded. Congress has not been responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars for the past 20 years and these are the consequences.”
No Propaganda Act
The House and Senate legislation that would strip the CPB of funding altogether is called the No Propaganda Act, sponsored by U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pennsylvania.
Though the legislation is rooted in the same foundation as Trump’s order — concern over left-leaning news bias — some Republicans including Barrasso have raised concerns about the sledgehammer approach.
In addition to news funding, the CPB helps pay for local programs like “Main Street Wyoming” and national shows like “Antiques Roadshow.” Public broadcasters also issue emergency alerts, though many people now get those through their cell phone providers.
The No Propaganda Act — consisting of identical bills in both chambers — has gone nowhere since being introduced in February. As of Friday, there were no co-sponsors as the bills wither in committees.
Barrasso Cites Wyoming CPB Connections
In response to earlier inquires about the No Propaganda Act, Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily that Wyomingites Ruby Calvert and Diana Enzi do good work associated with the CPB.
Enzi, the wife of former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, is a member of America’s Public Television Stations, a nonprofit group that advocates for public broadcasting. She is a trustee of Wyoming PBS.
Calvert, who lives in Riverton, chairs the CPB board of directors. Her long career at Wyoming PBS included helping launch “Main Street Wyoming” in 1990. She ascended to general manager at Wyoming PBS, retiring in 2015.
Trump has moved to fire some members of the CPB board, though Calvert is not one of them. The CPB is suing Trump over the attempted firings.
In the lawsuit filed last week, the organization claims that it is a private entity and does not fall under President Donald Trump’s authority, according to a statement.
“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not a government entity, and its board members are not government officers,” the statement reads. “Because CPB is not a federal agency subject to the President’s authority, but rather a private corporation, we have filed a lawsuit to block these firings.”
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Calvert declined to comment when contacted by Cowboy State Daily about the lawsuit, citing the advice of the board’s attorneys.
“All expenditures, including funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, should be carefully scrutinized to ensure taxpayers are getting real value for their hard-earned money,” Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily shortly after the No Propaganda Act was unveiled. “Wyoming is grateful to have Ruby Calvert, chair of the CPB, and Diana Enzi at Wyoming PBS supporting the mission and being stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.
