Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
Congress rescinded $1.1 billion already appropriated for public broadcasting, 216–213
The House vote ended all federal support for NPR, PBS and their member stations. Trump signed the bill on July 24, 2025.
What happened
On July 17, 2025, the House voted 216–213 to accept the Senate’s version of H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025. It rescinded about $9 billion in previously appropriated funds, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s full advance appropriations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, about $1.1 billion. All but two House Republicans voted yes. Trump signed it on July 24 as Public Law 119-28.
Trump had sent Congress a rescission message on June 3 under the Impoundment Control Act. The House passed H.R. 4 on June 12. The Senate removed a $400 million cut to the PEPFAR AIDS program and passed it July 16 after an overnight vote series in which every Democratic amendment failed.
Section 2(b)(20) rescinds all funds appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. It was the first successful presidential rescission package in a quarter century. NPR CEO Katherine Maher called the cut an irreversible loss. OMB Director Russell Vought said another rescissions package would likely follow.
Who benefited
The White House proved it could get Congress to cancel spending it had already agreed to. Vought said more rescission packages would follow. Republicans who had attacked NPR and PBS as biased got a result that executive orders alone could not deliver.
Who wanted something
Trump had signed an order in May directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to defund the networks, and he pressed Republicans to vote yes. Vought built the package. Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader John Thune held their conferences together. Holdouts such as Rep. Don Bacon were brought along with promises that local stations would be funded later.
Who lost out
About 1,500 local public radio and television stations lost federal support, with rural and Native American stations most exposed. NPR said they get a far larger share of their budgets from the corporation than the networks do. Audiences who rely on those stations for local news and emergency alerts lost with them.
Why it matters
Congress reversed its own appropriation at a president’s request, targeting two news organizations he had labeled biased. In public broadcasting’s 58-year history no Congress had done that. The act showed a path for the executive to unwind enacted spending on a party-line vote, which the administration said it would use again.
Sources NPRGovInfo / U.S. Government Publishing Office (primary)