Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Free Americans from Ideological Reporting (FAIR) Act to stop federal taxpayer dollars from being sent to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) after years of left-wing politically biased reporting under the guise of public broadcasting. Senator Blackburn has long pushed to ensure taxpayers are not footing the bill for biased media, and this bill would codify the executive order President Trump issued on May 1, 2025.

“For far too long, American taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for NPR and PBS while they push left-wing propaganda,” said Senator Blackburn. “The FAIR Act would cut off taxpayer funding to these partisan outlets, ensuring the American people aren’t forced to subsidize media that disparages conservatives and does the left’s bidding.”

BACKGROUND

• NPR and PBS have benefited from taxpayer dollars for years while showing a consistent pattern of editorial bias, left-leaning political slant, and a lack of public accountability. NPR and PBS have violated the spirit of public broadcasting by forcing American taxpayers to fund content that misrepresents and excludes conservative viewpoints.

• Last year, Senator Blackburn called for NPR to lose its funding after it suspended an editor who exposed the outlet’s partisan bias.

• NPR’s CEO, Katherine Maher, testified before Congress where she admitted to botching coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop and was grilled about the bias in the organization. Maher has also made statements calling President Trump a “fascist” and a “deranged racist sociopath.” PBS has pushed radical leftist gender ideology, releasing a movie called “Real Boy,” about a transgender teen.

• President Trump issued an executive order on May 1, 2025, preventing federal dollars from funding NPR and PBS directly through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) or indirectly through member station dues.

THE FAIR ACT

The FAIR Act would:

• Permanently bar CPB from directly funding NPR and PBS;

• Permanently bar CPB from indirectly funding NPR and PBS by ensuring that licensees and permittees of public radio and television stations, as well as any other recipients of CPB funds, do not use federal funds for NPR and PBS; and

• Require the heads of all agencies to identify and terminate direct or indirect funding of NPR and PBS. 

Click here for bill text