Rural State Republican Senators Push Back On Defunding Public Media.

This will be a critical week for public media funding, with the Senate expected to vote on a package of $9.4 billion in funding already appropriated by Congress that President Trump wants to rescind. It includes a rollback of nearly $1.1 billion in previously allocated funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the nonprofit organization that distributes federal funding to PBS, NPR and local public media stations.

On Capitol Hill, there is a growing effort to find a way to keep the public media funding intact — especially among lawmakers from more rural states where public radio stations are often the only news outlet since there aren’t enough advertising dollars to support a commercial outlet.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) told Scripps News that it is likely the Senate will make amendments. “One talk is to separate NPR and PBS and looking at those different,” he said, explaining they are looking at how funding could still go to local stations, but not the national networks “to make sure the local isn’t hurt.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) has also come out in favor of maintaining federal dollars to help local stations in his state — especially the public radio system set up by Native American tribes, which get the vast majority of their funding from CPB grants.

“This is their way of getting emergency messages out to people. It’s the way in which they communicate in a very rural area,” Rounds told reporters last week. “What we’re trying to do is to work with [the Office of Management and Budget] to find a path forward where the funding for those radio stations would be left alone.”

Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) have expressed similar concerns, according to CBS News. Like several other Republicans, they are looking for ways to ensure funding dollars can still flow to local stations but not support the national NPR or PBS networks. They concede, however, that a lot of details of how that could be achieved are yet to be worked out.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has also said that some public radio stations in Alaska get up to 70% of their annual budgets from the government, telling OMB Director Russell Vought in a hearing last month that the stations play a critical role in emergency alert distribution while also offering “vital community connections” in rural areas.

“There is no safety valve for them,” Murkowski said. “In many parts of rural America, this is their lifeline. This is where they get the updates on that landslide, this is where they get the updates on the wildfires that are coming their way. And so, how they will be able to not only get the emergency alerts that they need, but also the weather reporting to make sure that that fisherman out in Unalaska can go out safely, so that these communities can be connected when the deadly landslide has come through.”

Vought defended the proposed claw back of CPB dollars, however. “For decades, we’ve had concerns with the extent to which CPB was funding content that was run contrary to the American people, and we’ve got to get to the point where we can finally deal with that,” he said.

The House approved a package last month, and Trump is working to convince any on-the-fence Senators to go along with his package of rescissions, which will expire July 18 if Congress doesn’t act.

“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill [sic.] and, in particular, defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN and MSNBC put together,” he wrote in a social media post last week. The message came with a threat to wavering lawmakers. “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or endorsement,” Trump wrote.

Not all Republicans are onboard rescuing public media funding. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who has introduced a bill to cut off federal dollars from NPR or PBS, has said deficit realities remain.

“Let’s cut to the chase — public broadcasting in America today is political as hell,” he said during a hearing last month. “Some folks like their politics, so they want to give them money. Some folks don’t like their politics, and they want to take it away. But real principle is, why are we giving money to public broadcasting when we’re $36 trillion in the hole?”

As debate about rescissions begins this week, supporters of public media funding will keep a close eye on Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who has been an outspoken critic of the proposed CPB cuts. She is said to be considering an amendment that would restore the funding.