The Defund NPR Act would ban federal funds from being given to National Public Radio (NPR) or any successor organization. It would add a new subsection (m) to section 396 of the Communications Act of 1934 saying that, after the law takes effect, no federal funds may directly or indirectly be made available to or used to support NPR. The ban specifically covers payments such as dues or the purchase of programming by a public broadcast station when those payments are made with federal funds. The bill also makes technical edits to remove mentions of NPR from other parts of the Communications Act (sections 396(k) and 398(b)(1)). The bill was introduced in the Senate on February 26, 2025, by Senator Jim Banks and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
If this bill becomes law, NPR and any successor organization could not receive federal money. Public broadcast stations that get federal funds could not use those federal funds to pay dues to NPR or to buy NPR programming. Stations could still use non-federal money to pay for programming or dues. The bill text does not provide details about how programming, station operations, or listener experience would change.
No publicly available information on federal cost estimates or budgetary effects. The bill text does not include a Congressional Budget Office estimate or other fiscal analysis.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.