Roughly 180 National Public Radio (NPR) member stations that struggle to break even could shutter if Republican lawmakers cut funding, according to a stark report.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher was called to testify in front of the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency on Capitol Hill last week as Republicans pushed for the organization to be defunded.
The publicly funded radio network has been heavily criticized for political bias, and its critics don’t believe the government should foot the bill, but Maher said NPR plays an essential role in “delivering unbiased, nonpartisan, fact-based reporting” to Americans.
As fallout from the hearing continues, The New York Times published a bleak report on Tuesday that detailed who would feel the consequences if government funds were ultimately stripped. Though the data is 14 years old, it contains strong warnings for 2025.
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Roughly 18% of 1,000 NPR member stations that struggle to break even would shutter if GOP lawmakers cut funding, according to a report. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
NPR compiled a lengthy document in 2011 that outlined what would happen if the government cut funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the government-backed company that supports both NPR and PBS, according to the Times.
“The document, which has not previously been reported, is bleak. It describes a precarious radio system that will bear the blow poorly, with consequences for listeners across the nation,” Times reporter Ben Mullin wrote.
The document noted that most “NPR member stations operate at, or barely above, break-even,” according to the Times, which adds that a cutoff “would cause up to $240 million to vanish and up to 18 percent of roughly 1,000 member stations to close” and up to 30 percent of listeners would lose access to NPR programming.
Americans in rural areas without access to broadband internet would be the hardest hit, according to the Times. Mullin suggested that NPR can “weather the funding cut” thanks to a predicted surge of donations if Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts funding, but “they will likely give more in big-city markets,” leaving stations in the Midwest, South and West the hardest hit.
NPR did not immediately respond to a request by Fox News Digital for comment.
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President and CEO of National Public Radio Katherine Maher testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for yanking federal funding for NPR and PBS, saying in late March, “I’d be honored to see it end. We’re well covered. Look at all the people that we have here today. We’re well covered, and we don’t need it, and it’s a waste of money especially.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, last week reintroduced the No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Services Act to eliminate all federal funding for both NPR and PBS.
“For decades, radical Democrats have funneled taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS under the guise of ‘serving the public,’ despite both organizations abandoning their founding missions to provide non-biased content and instead promoting the same radical-left propaganda as any other fake news outlet,” Jackson said when announcing the bill.
“If these organizations want to push partisan agendas, they do not deserve another dime of federal support,” Jackson continued.
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After a hard-hitting hearing by the House DOGE Subcommittee, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, introduced a bill to pull all government funding from “chronically biased” outlets NPR and PBS, which he says have been “pushing Democrat talking points under the fake banner of ‘public media.’” (Getty Images)
Democrats on the DOGE subcommittee invoked characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets to attack GOP efforts to cut funding to public broadcasting. Alaska Public Media CEO Ed Ulman served as a pro-public media witness.
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“We are essential,” Ulman said.
