Former NPR CEO Vivian Schiller <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-npr-ceo-admits-mixing-journalism-federal-funding-recipe-disaster">said</a> in an MSNBC interview Monday that “I have long believed that mixing journalism and federal funding is just a recipe for disaster.” 
This comes as the Senate <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-rescissions-foreign-aid-public-media/">passed</a> Trump’s $9 billion rescissions package on Sunday, which is awaiting the President’s signature to become law. The bill repeals over $1 billion in federal funding allocated to public media, including broadcast corporations like PBS and NPR. 
“In many ways, I think this is an opportunity for a reset,” Schiller said. “I think the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was a very bureaucratic organization that was, still is today, doling out that money, will go away. Let’s reset. Let’s come up with a new governance structure.”
Opponents argued the cuts will largely affect local news stations and rural Americans. 
CPB president Patricia Harrison said that “many local public radio and television stations will be forced to shut down.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, <a href="https://thehill.com/business/budget/5409384-trump-public-media-foreign-aid-cuts/">told</a> the Hill that rural communities are “frightened to death” that “they’re not going to have access to important information or alerts about weather situations, information that they need to know, education for their kids, because they’re not in communities where there are multiple sources of information.”
Schiller disagreed on the necessity of local news being impaired by the cuts: &#8220;Those of us that care about local journalism are going to help them,&#8221; she said. “The fact is this is done. The money is gone. The rescission has happened. So my perspective now is let’s move on.&#8221;
She added, &#8220;I tend to look at the bright side of life and say let’s just find a better way forward, because there were problems with the former system.&#8221;
The rescissions bill passed the House 51-48, largely along party lines. Republicans have long accused NPR and PBS of having a liberal <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/npr-head-asks-critics-show-me-story-proves-liberal-bias-amid-defunding-threats">bias</a>.
“NPR reported that country music and birds are racist, told American people to stop eating beef, and promoted the Russia-gate conspiracy. No person with a brain above a single-celled organism would call these articles fair and balanced,” Senator John Kennedy said in a series of <a href="https://x.com/SenJohnKennedy/status/1945554069289853418">posts to X</a> on Wednesday in response to current NPR CEO Katherine Maher’s challenge to Republicans to find one clear example of bias. 
&#8220;NPR reported that there is no evidence that biological men have an unfair advantage over biological women in sports. NPR also called America’s interstate highways racist. I did not know our highways were racist. I thought they were concrete, but not according to NPR.”

In this photo illustration, National Public Radio (NPR) logo

Ex-NPR CEO: Mixing Journalism And Federal Funding A ‘Recipe For Disaster’

Media Bias

National Public Radio (NPR)

Politics

The House pulls the plug on NPR and PBS in a late-night funding fight as President Donald Trump&#8217;s plan gets final approval. Another top Biden aide pleads the Fifth in a congressional hearing about the former president’s competency. And we talk to the president of the Chicago Fed about the upcoming interest rate vote and the feud between Trump and Powell.
It’s Friday, July 18, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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<h2>Congress Approves Funding Cuts To PBS &amp; NPR</h2>
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Topline: In the early hours of Friday morning, the House gave final approval to President Trump&#8217;s plan to claw back $9 billion in funding to global aid and government-funded media after the Senate narrowly passed a measure early Thursday. It now heads to Trump&#8217;s desk.
In June, the White House formally requested that Congress rescind $1.1 billion in funding that had already been allocated for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. Early Thursday morning, after hours of debate, the Senate voted 51-48 to approve the measure. 
Democrats say NPR and PBS represent America’s commitment to a free press and provide essential services for all people, particularly those in rural communities. They also argue that public broadcasting plays a major role in emergency preparedness and community safety.
“When a flood happens, when a tornado touches down, when a hurricane makes landfall, people need immediate, up-to-date alerts to stay safe,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer(D-NY) argued in a speech on the Senate floor. “All too often, public broadcasting is the only way for people to hear what’s going on. It’s a matter of life and death.&#8221;
Republicans say that’s a ridiculous argument given how many ways people now receive warnings about natural disasters.
“All broadcasters are required to broadcast emergency alerts,” Tim Graham, host of NewsBusters at the Media Research Center told The Daily Wire. “Today, everybody&#8217;s going to get emergency alerts on their cell phone. So the idea that you need NPR to learn of a flash flood alert – I mean, first of all, you have to assume that there&#8217;s a huge number of people listening to NPR at 10 p.m. &#8230; It’s just not true.”
Republicans have argued for decades that NPR and PBS are not balanced news sources and that both organizations lean heavily to the Left. “Recently, we counted labels,” Graham told The Daily Wire. “[The PBS Newshour] used &#8216;far-Right&#8217; labels 42 times as often as they used &#8216;far-Left&#8217; … And the interesting thing here was that Donald Trump got elected with a Republican Congress, they could see the writing on the wall, and PBS and NPR made no attempt to move to the center to try to be fairer, to try to be more balanced. If anything, they have doubled down in 2025. They were basically suggesting they didn&#8217;t care what the Republican opinion was on their product.”
<h2>Biden WH Aide Pleads The Fifth In Congressional Testimony</h2>
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Topline: Former first lady Jill Biden’s top aide testified to Congress on Wednesday. Anthony Bernal, who has been close to the Biden family since 2008, pleaded the Fifth seven times in response to investigators&#8217; questions.
Bernal, Jill Biden’s chief of staff, refused to answer a slate of questions around former president Biden’s health – instead invoking his Constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. Bernal was a top trusted aide in the Biden White House – Jill often referred to him as her “work husband.”
When asked by the House Oversight Committee if President Biden was fit to exercise his duties, Bernal said, “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.”
Last week, Biden’s White House doctor Kevin O’Connor refused to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment rights and <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/doctor-patient_privilege">doctor-patient privilege</a>. Legally, invoking the Fifth is <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/532/17.html">not</a> an admission of guilt, and most criminal lawyers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE">highly discourage</a> their clients from sharing anything with authorities that might conceivably be used against them. Nevertheless, many Republicans are concerned about the concerted coverup of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and want to know who was running the Biden administration if he wasn’t.
In their book, &#8220;Original Sin,&#8221; a deep dive into the Biden White House and his re-election effort, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson described Bernal as “[one of] the Bidens’ eyes and ears, the keepers of the flame, the protectors of the myth. &#8230; As we researched this book, it was difficult to find many Bernal defenders. … He freely trash-talked senior, mid-level and junior aides. … Some described him as the worst person they had ever met.”
Despite their reticence, Bernal and O’Connor could be compelled to testify by Congress – if they were offered immunity for any crimes revealed by their testimony, then the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination would no longer apply, although in O’Connor’s case, doctor-patient privilege could shield him from certain questions.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told Fox News that Bernal could not say that Biden was mentally well without lying under oath, which is why he pleaded the Fifth. Comer also suggested that he would like to see more of Biden’s inner circle testify before his committee, including Jill Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
<h2>Federal Reserve Meeting</h2>
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Topline: As President Trump ramps up pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the Fed is preparing for a meeting at the end of the month to decide whether to cut interest rates – as the president is demanding.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), spoke to The Daily Wire shortly before the upcoming July 29-30 meeting and offered his perspective on current economic data.
Goolsbee described the latest inflation data as &#8220;a little bit of a mixed bag,&#8221; noting positive trends in services and housing inflation, but expressing wariness about &#8220;actual physical goods&#8221; where &#8220;tariffs are going to increase the prices a bit.&#8221; Despite this, he remains &#8220;still hopeful that we&#8217;re in a pretty solid place on the economy,&#8221; citing sustained growth and &#8220;close to full employment&#8221; as key strengths, with the primary goal being to keep &#8220;inflation on path back to 2 percent.&#8221;
A public dispute between President Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell has brought the issue of central bank independence into sharp focus. Goolsbee, while unable to speak for the entire Fed, voiced his unease about such arguments. He emphasized that the reason &#8220;all the rich countries of the world have an independent central bank – that&#8217;s independent of political interference – is precisely because if you look at places where they don&#8217;t have central bank independence, inflation is higher, unemployment is higher, growth is worse.&#8221; He underscored the imperative that interest rate decisions &#8220;should be rooted in that dual mandate: stabilizing prices and maximizing employment,&#8221; adding, &#8220;That&#8217;s the critical element, should be economic conditions that drive the decisions.&#8221;
Regarding the immediate outlook for interest rates, Goolsbee maintained his usual cautious stance ahead of the meeting and further data, stating, &#8220;I don&#8217;t like tying our hands before the meetings.&#8221; However, he indicated a general inclination toward lower rates if conditions allow. He noted that his view prior to April 2 was that &#8220;we got pretty close to stable full employment. We got inflation trending down to 2% — and in an environment like that, I think rates can go down a fair bit more than from where they are today.&#8221;

MRN 7.18.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Congress Cuts Funding For PBS & NPR, Biden’s Decline Investigated, Fed Meeting

Biden Administration

Congress

Donald Trump

Economy

Inflation

Jerome Powell

Jill Biden

Joe Biden

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Senate Republicans are removing $400 million in proposed funding cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program from a rescissions package ahead of a deadline at the end of this week.
The decision was announced after GOP senators met on Tuesday with White House Director Russell Vought regarding the measure designed to codify spending reductions in line with recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1945193756086378516" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters there was &#8220;a lot of interest among our members in doing something on the PEPFAR issue,&#8221; resulting in a &#8220;small modification&#8221; that leaves the rescissions package, which seeks to slash funds for programs Republicans deem to be wasteful and ideologically driven, at roughly $9 billion.
The GOP-led House narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-doge-cuts-targeting-foreign-aid-npr-and-pbs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the rescissions package in June following a request by the Trump administration. It sought to claw back $9.4 billion in &#8220;reckless spending,&#8221; as House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told The Daily Wire, by targeting foreign aid projects and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funds to NPR and PBS.
Under the Impoundment Control Act, lawmakers in Congress were given 45 days to act on the request, and it requires only a simple majority in the House and Senate — meaning the filibuster threshold can be ignored. The deadline is Friday, meaning the Senate and the House must both pass the revised measure in the next couple of days.
House Republicans had been urging the Senate not to make any changes, but they could end up approving the slimmer version, particularly after the White House <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5402273-white-house-accepts-pepfar-exemption/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> gave the Senate its blessing to remove the PEPFAR section.
Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) responded in particular to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who said she wanted to strike the PEPFAR cuts from the rescissions package, contending the program was a success in saving millions of lives.
&#8220;All of that spending” is a far cry from PEPFAR’s original mission, to combat &#8220;the AIDS epidemic in Africa when it first started,&#8221; Harris <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-urge-senate-colleagues-to-pass-rescissions-package-with-sense-of-urgency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Daily Wire.
In addition, a senior Trump administration official told The Daily Wire on Tuesday that &#8220;limited&#8221; program cuts to PEPFAR took aim at &#8220;LGBTQ education and capacity building — not core life-saving care.&#8221;
Democrat senators and the independents who caucus with them are likely to vote in unison against passing the measure, leaving Republicans and their <a href="https://www.senate.gov/history/partydiv.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slim</a> majority unable to afford more than a couple GOP defectors. Vice President JD Vance might be needed for a tie-breaker.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/SenatorRounds/status/1945145431916233064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Monday that he came around on the rescissions package after the Trump administration helped find money that could be reallocated to continue grants for tribal broadcast services that offer &#8220;potentially lifesaving emergency alerts&#8221; in his state.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune

Senate Republicans Drop ‘AIDS Relief’ Cuts From Rescissions Package

AIDS

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Foreign Funding

John Thune

Spending Bill

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

A PBS affiliate appears to be running political ads targeting Senate Republicans, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr wants answers.
PBS Kansas recently ran an ad urging viewers to &#8220;call your senators today&#8221; and &#8220;tell them to vote no&#8221; on the Trump administration&#8217;s rescissions bill, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-rescissions-package-would-end-billions-in-woke-wasteful-spending-congressman-says">targets</a> funding for PBS and NPR.
The ad included photos of the state&#8217;s two Republican senators, Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, along with their office phone numbers.
The PBS channel also asked viewers to &#8220;donate today!&#8221; to PBS Kansas.
The FCC chairman stated that the agency is investigating the situation, since PBS is barred from airing certain political ads.
&#8220;Federal law prohibits noncommercial stations — including PBS ones — from accepting money in exchange for airing political issue ads,&#8221; Carr wrote in a post on X. &#8220;I’ve asked the FCC’s enforcement team to determine whether or not that happened here.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Federal law prohibits noncommercial stations—including PBS ones—from accepting money in exchange for airing political issue ads.
I’ve asked the FCC’s enforcement team to determine whether or not that happened here.
I would encourage PBS &amp; NPR to focus more on how they managed… <a href="https://t.co/hRhm3IGeED">pic.twitter.com/hRhm3IGeED</a>
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1943466263100997826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I would encourage PBS &amp; NPR to focus more on how they managed to lose America’s trust. That is their problem, not Congress’s work to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars,&#8221; Carr said.
Brendan Jaspers, political director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Senate Republicans, also slammed the ads.
&#8220;The Progressive Bias Syndicate (PBS) is running issue ads against Senate Republicans using taxpayer dollars — to request MORE taxpayer dollars,&#8221; Jaspers posted on X.
&#8220;It’s an egregious effort by PBS to prop up the failed Democrats who fund their propaganda. Pull the ads immediately,&#8221; Jaspers said.
The Trump administration&#8217;s recessions bill would codify the Department of Government Efficiency project&#8217;s proposed roughly $9 billion in spending cuts.
Besides PBS and NPR, the spending cuts package also targets funding for USAID, which has disbursed tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, which is supposed to promote conflict resolution worldwide.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump warned that he would withhold his endorsement from any Republican who votes against the cuts.
He emphasized defunding PBS.
&#8220;It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN &amp; MSDNC put together,&#8221; Trump posted on Truth Social.
&#8220;Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,&#8221; Trump said.

US-POLITICS-MEDIA-PROTEST

PBS Runs Ads Targeting Republicans, FCC Chairman Demands Answers

PBS Runs Political Ads Targeting Republicans, FCC Chairman Demands Answers

DOGE

Media

The GOP-led House moved on Thursday to cut billions in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, aligning with the Department of Government Efficiency&#8217;s (DOGE) recommendations to cut programs Republicans deem to be wasteful and ideologically driven.
A <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20250609/SCALIS_004_xml[6].pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rescissions bill</a> that seeks to take back $9.4 billion in discretionary spending allocated toward foreign aid projects and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funds to NPR and PBS, passed in a <a href="https://x.com/HouseDailyPress/status/1933251522961313997" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote</a> of 214-212 <a href="https://x.com/CraigCaplan/status/1933254246561935683" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mostly along</a> party lines.
&#8220;President Trump promised to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, and today House Republicans took a strong step in delivering on that promise,&#8221; House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told The Daily Wire. &#8220;By solidifying savings found by DOGE, we’re reining in reckless spending and getting our fiscal house in order.&#8221;
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) <a href="https://www.majorityleader.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4551" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> the bill after President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dei-insect-powder-and-trans-resilience-trump-unveils-woke-spending-cuts-request" target="_blank" rel="noopener">submitted</a> a rescissions package seeking the cuts last week. Under the Impoundment Control Act, lawmakers have 45 days to act on the request, and it requires only a simple majority in the House and Senate — meaning the filibuster threshold can be ignored.
The legislation proposes cutting $8.3 billion from U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department programs, including funding for &#8220;Net Zero Cities&#8221; in Mexico, Iraqi &#8220;Sesame Street,&#8221; and global LGBTQ+ initiatives, and $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, targeting NPR and PBS following choices such as <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/npr-ceo-admits-outlet-was-mistaken-in-refusing-to-cover-hunter-biden-laptop-story/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ignoring</a> the Hunter Biden laptop story and trans-focused programming.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
While the House debated the bill, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) <a href="https://x.com/DailyCaller/status/1933236626433716523" target="_blank" rel="noopener">held up</a> a doll of Elmo from &#8220;Sesame Street.&#8221; He bemoaned how lawmakers were debating legislation that &#8220;targets Elmo, and Big Bird, and Daniel Tiger, and &#8216;Sesame Street'&#8221; rather than a bill &#8220;designed to make this country and our economy more affordable.&#8221; Scalise <a href="https://x.com/search?q=jeffries%20elmo&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=top" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delivered</a> a rebuttal in which he affirmed &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; is &#8220;doing just fine&#8221; after being <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/business/media/sesame-street-netflix-pbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picked up</a> by Netflix. &#8220;What will go away is some of the far-Left, radical views that are being espoused,&#8221; he added.
A continuation of the cuts is possible if they make it into fiscal 2026 legislation. Sources on Capitol Hill and the White House expect more requests to implement the so-called DOGE cuts to follow, assuming the first bill manages to pass through both chambers of Congress. It&#8217;s part of a wider effort to reduce the deficit, including income from tariffs and reining in the budget with the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; and the appropriations process.
In a post on Truth Social before the vote, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114671982391481893" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the rescissions bill a &#8220;NO BRAINER&#8221; and encouraged Republicans to vote for it to &#8220;&#8216;claw back&#8217; $9.4 BILLION DOLLARS in funding for wasteful Foreign Aid, used for Radical &#8216;DEI&#8217; and the Green New SCAM, and the &#8216;Corporation for Public Broadcasting,&#8217; which funds the highly biased NPR and PBS.&#8221;

House Republicans, including Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise, and Tom Emmer

House Passes DOGE Cuts Targeting Foreign Aid, NPR, And PBS

Hakeem Jeffries

Steve Scalise

USAID

White House

President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration submitted its first rescissions package of the year to Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced on Tuesday, accompanied by a list of instances of &#8220;waste, fraud, and abuse&#8221; singled out for the chopping block.
In a thread <a href="https://x.com/WHOMB/status/1929991228449312979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X, OMB said lawmakers in the House and Senate &#8220;must act&#8221; on the request to claw back billions of dollars in &#8220;wasteful foreign aid and federal funding for NPR and PBS&#8221; previously appropriated by Congress, with &#8220;45 days to codify these massive cuts to woke, wasteful, and weaponized spending via a simple majority vote&#8221; using the Impoundment Control Act.
OMB specifically highlighted $67,000 for testing insect powder nutrition on children in Madagascar, $33,000 for “Being LGBTI in the Caribbean,&#8221; $643,000 for &#8220;LGBTQI+&#8221; programs in the Western Balkans, and $567,000 for &#8220;LBGTQI+&#8221; programs in Uganda.
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$67,000 for testing insect powder nutrition on children in Madagascar. <a href="https://t.co/ehLzMuIkkr">pic.twitter.com/ehLzMuIkkr</a>
— Office of Management and Budget (@WHOMB) <a href="https://twitter.com/WHOMB/status/1929991230567457260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Scores of DEI and Global Green New Deal funding&#8221; projects were also mentioned, including: $5 million for the &#8220;Minority Serving Institute Fellowship Cooperative Agreement,&#8221; $595,400 for training women in gender equity, $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda, $6 million for “net zero cities” in Mexico, $2.1 million for climate resilience in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and East Africa, as well as $5 million for “green transportation and logistics” in Eurasia.
OMB&#8217;s list went on to mention $4 million for “legume systems research&#8221; and $3 million for Iraqi Sesame Street.
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In addition, OMB noted millions under the PEPFAR account for so-called LGBTQIA+ programs, condoms, and vasectomies: $833,000 for &#8220;transgender people, sex workers and their clients and sexual networks&#8221; in Nepal, $5.1 million for &#8220;resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans gender, intersex, and queer global movements,&#8221; $3 million for circumcision, vasectomies, and condoms in Zambia, $1 billion in contributions to &#8220;wasteful, corrupt, and anti-American international organizations,&#8221; including $135 million to the World Health Organization, and $1.1 billion for the &#8220;left-wing&#8221; Corporation for Public Broadcasting, &#8220;which uses your taxpayer dollars to fund PBS and NPR.&#8221;
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) confirmed receipt of the rescissions package, which his office said focuses on $9.4 billion in &#8220;wasteful spending&#8221; identified by the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. He also gave a shoutout to Elon Musk, who earlier had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-cant-stand-it-anymore-goes-nuclear-on-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assailed</a> the lawmakers who voted to pass the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; last month, citing the &#8220;unsustainable&#8221; debt.
&#8220;The House will act quickly on this request,&#8221; Johnson said in a statement. &#8220;Under President Trump, every federal taxpayer dollar is actually being used to serve the American people, not to fund a bloated bureaucracy or purely partisan pet projects. We thank Elon Musk and his DOGE team for identifying a wide range of wasteful, duplicative, and outdated programs, and House Republicans are eager to eliminate them.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;This rescissions package reflects many of DOGE’s findings and is one of the many legislative tools Republicans are using to restore fiscal sanity. Congress will continue working closely with the White House to codify these recommendations, and the House will bring the package to the floor as quickly as possible.&#8221;
Johnson also took a shot at Democrats, who have largely opposed anything Trump supports, including DOGE.
“Democrats continue to wail and complain — NOT at the fraud, waste, and abuse — but at the Trump Administration simply for exposing it,&#8221; the speaker declared. &#8220;In fact, Democrats are the only ones in Washington who do not want to stop the egregious misspending of the people’s tax dollars. Democrats continue to defend corruption, while Republicans are delivering real accountability and real savings the American people demanded in November.&#8221;
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) criticized the spending cuts request.
&#8220;The reckless rescissions package introduced today is only the latest attempt by the Trump administration to attack the free press, decimate lifesaving humanitarian aid and hurt our national security,&#8221; Jeffries said in a statement. &#8220;House Democrats will continue to aggressively push back on the continued chaos, cruelty and corruption of this administration and on the far-right extremism being unleashed on the American people.&#8221;

President Trump

DEI, Insect Powder, And Trans ‘Resilience’: Trump Unveils ‘Woke’ Spending Cuts Request

Budget

Mike Johnson

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Trump Administration

A key group of fiscal conservatives is calling on the GOP-led House to immediately get to work on passing President Donald Trump&#8217;s first second-term rescissions package slated to be sent to Congress this week.
In an &#8220;Official Position&#8221; released Monday, the House Freedom Caucus argued that codifying spending cuts sought by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative should be a top priority for lawmakers, who just returned to Capitol Hill after the Memorial Day recess.
&#8220;When the White House submits its first rescissions package to enact DOGE spending cuts to Congress, the House of Representatives should immediately move this to the floor for swift passage,&#8221; the group <a href="https://x.com/freedomcaucus/status/1929628818060235147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The House Freedom Caucus strongly supports these critical rescissions, and we will support as many more rescissions packages the White House can send us in the coming weeks and months.&#8221;
Altogether, the rescissions package is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-budget-director-confirms-first-targets-for-clawing-back-spending" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to cover roughly $9.4 billion. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funds to NPR and PBS, as well as foreign aid are slated to be the targets of the first request to claw back funds appropriated by Congress. More rescissions packages could follow.
&#8220;These first DOGE cuts target taxpayer-funded public broadcasters notorious for their liberal bias like NPR and PBS, as well as billions in wasteful foreign aid dollars. Passing this rescissions package will be an important demonstration of Congress’s willingness to deliver on DOGE and the Trump agenda,&#8221; the House Freedom Caucus said.
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&#8220;While the Swamp will inevitably attempt to slow and kill these cuts, there is no excuse for a Republican House not to advance the first DOGE rescissions package the same week it is presented to Congress then quickly send it for passage in the Republican Senate so President Trump can sign it into law,&#8221; the group added.
Dealing with a narrow majority and Democrats who largely vote in a block against anything they do, House GOP leaders have been under pressure from many in the Republican rank-and-file to codify the DOGE cuts, particularly after the lower chamber narrowly passed the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; that is estimated to add trillions of dollars to the national debt.
Fiscal hawks who do not think enough is being done to rein in spending could revolt if the Senate makes changes to the legislation, and it gets sent back to the House. The Trump administration wants the bill ready to go by July 4.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-reveals-two-ways-house-act-doge-findings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed</a> rescissions as being one of two actions the House will take based on findings from the DOGE initiative, in addition to using the appropriations process to &#8220;swiftly implement&#8221; Trump&#8217;s proposed 2026 budget. &#8220;When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts,&#8221; he <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1927749395363045819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Wednesday post on X.

Chair Andy Harris (R-MD) and other Freedom Caucus members

Fiscal Hawks Make Urgent Demand For ‘DOGE Cuts’

The White House plans to send its first rescissions package of the year to the Congress next week, President Donald Trump&#8217;s budget chief announced on Wednesday, aiming to gut programs that Republicans view as being wasteful and partisan.
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said during an interview on Fox Business that the request to claw back funds appropriated by Congress will be delivered to the House on Monday or Tuesday, whenever the lower chamber is back in session.
The package will focus on removing &#8220;waste and garbage&#8221; for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and foreign aid, Vought told host Larry Kudlow.
Vought noted the package will also target NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). NPR just <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/business/media/npr-trump-lawsuit-executive-order-funding.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> Trump over his executive order for ending &#8220;taxpayer subsidization&#8221; of outlets presenting &#8220;biased and partisan&#8221; news coverage. In particular, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directive</a> seeks to end funds to NPR and PBS through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 <a href="https://twitter.com/WHOMB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHOMB</a> Director <a href="https://twitter.com/RussVought47?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussVought47</a> confirms that President Trump&#8217;s first rescissions package — clawing back wasteful spending in USAID, foreign aid, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and NPR — will be sent to Congress next week. <a href="https://t.co/wBZp1lciat">pic.twitter.com/wBZp1lciat</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1927831966658797660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/trump-budget-doge-npr-pbs-usaid-congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the rescissions package is expected to cover $9.4 billion and, once delivered, lawmakers will have 45 days to approve it. Vought noted how the measure can be passed by the House and Senate with a simple majority, meaning the filibuster will not be in play.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve had good conversations to make sure they knew it was coming,&#8221; Vought said. &#8220;They had some input as to some of the changes that could be made to make it something that could pass the House. And we&#8217;re excited for that to occur next week.&#8221;
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-reveals-two-ways-house-act-doge-findings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed</a> rescissions as being one of two actions the House will take based on findings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, led by Elon Musk, in addition to using the appropriations process to &#8220;swiftly implement&#8221; Trump&#8217;s proposed 2026 budget.
&#8220;When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1927749395363045819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Wednesday post on X.
During his appearance on Fox Business, Vought also defended the version of Trump’s &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-one-big-beautiful-bill-in-massive-win-for-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> by the House last week after Musk <a href="https://x.com/CBSSunday/status/1927535075144421527" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> it &#8220;undermines&#8221; DOGE&#8217;s cost-cutting efforts because it risks further increasing the federal deficit, which has already surpassed $1 trillion in recent years.
&#8220;We have been in the process of getting the most important priority done, and that is the &#8216;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8217; &#8230; we are in the business of actually passing a law,&#8221; Vought <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1927822695145611426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;It has $1.6 trillion in actual, mandatory savers for the first time ever.&#8221;

Trump Budget Director Confirms First Targets For Clawing Back Spending

Russ Vought

Tensions between Russia and the United States rise as Trump and Putin escalate their war of words, NPR follows Harvard in suing the Trump administration in order to retain public funding, and MAHA has set its sights on regulating pesticides, but it’s causing a rift among Republicans.
It’s Wednesday, May 28, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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<h2>NATO Readies For War</h2>
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Topline: The U.S. reinforces Europe’s northern front as Russia ramps up its assault on Ukraine.
President Trump took public shots this weekend at Vladimir Putin, calling him “crazy” after he launched an unprecedented aerial barrage on Ukraine. The Kremlin responded by issuing a sarcastic statement, saying, “We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organizing and launching this negotiation process…This is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions.&#8221;
That clearly angered Trump, who issued a new statement on Tuesday with a clear threat. “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”
A number of reports from the White House suggest the president could roll out new sanctions on Moscow as early as this week. Trump is reportedly concerned that sanctions could drive Putin even further from a ceasefire and prolong the war, but the reality is that, barring increased military support for Ukraine, he doesn’t have many other options for exerting pressure.
Because existing sanctions have essentially cut off all trade between the U.S. and Russia, new sanctions would have to target countries doing business with Moscow and theoretically isolate them from the global economy. One proposal would impose a 500% import tariff on any nation that continues to purchase Russian oil, natural gas, and petroleum. Leaders in Congress have told the White House they would approve new sanctions with overwhelming bipartisan support.
However, some experts believe the Russian war machine is robust enough to weather further Western sanctions.
“The Russian economy is relatively stable,” Rebekah Koffler, a former defense intelligence analyst and author of Putin’s Playbook, told The Daily Wire. “Russia produces in three months more military hardware than the entire NATO Alliance produces in one year. … Putin transitioned his military and economy on a wartime footing a decade ago in 2015. They&#8217;re even more adequate right now after three years than before.”
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<h2>Trump Vs Harvard</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-926069" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still003.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still003.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still003-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: NPR joins Harvard in suing the Trump administration – in an attempt to cling to their taxpayer funding.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to terminate $100 million in remaining contracts with Harvard, citing its failure to address antisemitism and promote national interests. This is the latest development in an ongoing feud between the White House and America’s oldest university, which in the span of about a month has included attempts to cut billions of dollars in federal grants to Harvard and restrict its ability to admit foreign students.
Last Friday, a federal judge in Boston issued a temporary restraining order, stopping the Trump administration’s attempt to block the enrollment of Harvard’s international students. The policy would impact more than 7,000 foreign visa holders, about 30% of Harvard’s student body. Harvard argues that the move by the Trump administration is a direct response to the university&#8217;s refusal to comply with demands to have race-blind admissions, end DEI programs, and screen international students for alleged ties to terrorism or antisemitism. Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, told NPR that these actions threaten not just the university, but critical research.
“They see this as a message,” Garber said. “If you don’t comply with what we are demanding these will be the consequences.”
Trump says he’s considering directing Harvard’s funding to trade schools to develop the American workforce instead.
“We give them billions of dollars, which is ridiculous,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1926773697458712841">said</a> on Sunday. “I&#8217;m not going to have a problem with foreign students, but it shouldn&#8217;t be 31%. It&#8217;s too much, because we have Americans that want to go there and other places, and they can&#8217;t go there … No foreign government contributes money to Harvard. We do.”
Meanwhile, NPR, along with three Colorado public radio stations, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging President Trump’s May 1 executive order to cut all federal funding to NPR and PBS, which totals more than $500 million annually. The lawsuit argues the order violates the First Amendment’s protections of free speech and the press. NPR’s CEO, Katherine Maher, called it “retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination,” accusing the administration of punishing NPR for its reporting.
<h2>MAHA Eyes Pesticides</h2>
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Topline: A push to regulate pesticides is causing a rift within the GOP.
At the federal and state levels, there’s a looming battle within the Republican Party over potential pesticide regulations. Some Republicans and the broader MAHA coalition of activists want to see pesticides that have been banned in other countries, which are similarly prohibited in the United States. Others within the Republican Party say they’re worried about farmers in their districts who rely on pesticides like glyphosate, which has caught the eye of HHS, and there have been reports about concerns from within the White House that abrupt regulatory action could trigger supply chain issues.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spoken out against pesticides for years, claiming that they’re poisoning American children. He’s not backing down from that, but his department has so far toed the line between these two camps in the GOP. For example, top Kennedy advisor Calley Means signaled earlier this month that while HHS will state the “truth” about pesticides, the department has no desire for “nanny state” regulatory measures on these chemicals.
“We ingest 25% of the world’s pesticides in the United States,” Means said at an Axios event. “Other countries across the world have chosen to phase [many leading American pesticides] out or ban them, calling them carcinogenic and disruptive to kids. … The policy solutions from this are not obvious. Pesticides are deeply ingrained into the U.S. agricultural system and it would be a disaster to phase them out tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, there’s legislation in more than a dozen states to shield Bayer – a German multinational chemical company that purchased the American agricultural giant Monsanto in 2018 – from forthcoming legal action over its “failure to warn” about potential harms associated with its products. GOP-led states <a href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2025/05/19/823734.htm#:~:text=A%20new%20first%2Dof%2Dits,weedkiller%20Roundup%20could%20cause%20cancer.">North Dakota</a> and <a href="https://hpj.com/2025/05/27/georgia-shields-bayer-from-roundup-lawsuits/">Georgia</a> have both passed laws to shield Bayer. Other states, including Iowa, Idaho, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, have similar pending legislation. There have been n<a href="https://lacykatzen.com/blog/roundup-loss-in-the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states-is-a-victory-for-consumers-injured-by-the-dangerous-weedkiller/">early 200,000 lawsuits</a> filed against Bayer, connecting it to the development of cancer and other diseases.
“I think it’s atrocious to believe that any company – any company in America or anywhere – should get any form of blanket immunity for the products that they’re putting in the stream of commerce,” Missouri Republican state Senator Nick Schroer told The Daily Wire. Schroer said that state Republicans were divided over support for the bill, partially because of lobbying by Bayer, but also because many farmers are concerned that they may lose access to herbicides and pesticides if Bayer goes under.

MRN 5.28.25 Thumbnail_V1

Morning Brief: Trump-Putin Faceoff, NPR Sues Trump, & GOP Pesticide War

Harvard University

Morning Wire

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

U.S. job growth fuels a market rebound with all major stock indexes on the rise, President Donald Trump orders an end to taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS, and political unrest brews in Canada despite a fresh Liberal Party election win.
It’s Monday, May 5, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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<h2>Trump Touts Economic Comeback</h2>
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Topline: President Trump takes a victory lap as the economy shows signs of improvement. 
After a tumultuous month, stocks are rallying following a better-than-expected jobs report and optimism about trade deals. In the last week or so, markets have taken a bullish turn. On Friday, the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&amp;P 500 all jumped about a point and a half – the S&amp;P saw its ninth straight day of gains, the longest streak in twenty years. Overall, the DOW is now within 2% of where it was when Trump kicked off his &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs, while the S&amp;P 500 and NASDAQ are higher than before. Markets have been fickle — there’s always a chance those gains are erased in a day or two — but this is a remarkable recovery so far.
Meanwhile, the April jobs report showed considerably more growth than projected. Economists expected 133,000 new jobs last month, but the number came in at 177,000 — 33% higher. Unemployment also held steady, and hourly wages saw a 4% increase from the same month last year. 
It’s worth noting who those new jobs are going to: Under President Joe Biden, foreign-born workers added nearly four and a half million jobs, but over the same timeframe, the number of American-born workers fell. But in April, the number of foreign-born workers decreased, meaning the net job growth last month was concentrated among workers born in America. Job growth was also concentrated in the private sector, as government employment declined for its third straight month due to the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project.
Markets also seem to be buoyed by reports that China may be willing to strike a deal with the United States to end the escalating tariff hikes that followed Trump’s Liberation Day announcement last month. Early last week, China was projecting an apparent willingness to dig in for a protracted trade war and weather the economic storm – the Chinese Communist Party said it was prepared to increase payouts for the unemployed, subsidize new housing projects, and incentivize its people to buy more domestic products. But on Friday, we saw our first major sign that Beijing was open to de-escalation, with the country’s commerce ministry saying, “If [The U.S.] wants to talk, our door is wide open.” 
As a sign of that new willingness to strike a deal, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/world/asia/us-china-tariffs-fentanyl.html">Wall Street Journal</a> reported that Beijing is weighing a potential crackdown on fentanyl production as a show of goodwill, and has been reaching out for details on what the White House is looking for on that front.
&nbsp;
<h2>Trump Orders Elimination Of Funding For Public Broadcasters</h2>
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Topline: NPR and PBS threaten legal action after Trump ends their taxpayer funding.
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday to eliminate about $535 million in annual funding to NPR, PBS, and other public media. NPR and PBS vowed to fight the order in court.
President Trump has made it clear for some time that he is no fan of public broadcasting. Recently, he said, “Republicans must defund and totally disassociate themselves from NPR and PBS, the radical left monsters that so badly hurt our country.” He’s also said that taxpayer funding of media networks is “outdated and unnecessary” and “corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
In a statement on Friday, Patricia Harris, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, immediately shot back, saying that the private nonprofit authorized by Congress is not “subject to the President’s authority.” Harris said Congress authorized the funding, so only Congress can revoke it. 
Paula Kerger, president of PBS, also issued a statement calling Trump’s order “blatantly unlawful.” 
“This is probably the most difficult and serious threat in the time that I&#8217;ve been in public broadcasting,” Kerger told PBS News Hour. “This idea that funds that had already been put aside for public broadcasting would be taken away.”
<h2> Oh Canada&#8230;</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-915803" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Segement-3-Header.png" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Segement-3-Header.png 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Segement-3-Header-300x169.png 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: Canada&#8217;s election season might be over, but the political drama is just beginning. Last week, Mark Carney led his Liberal party to a stunning comeback but <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/federal-election-2025/article/how-did-the-federal-election-change-canadas-representation-in-parliament/">fell just short</a> of a majority.
The Liberal Party of Canada has been in power for nearly ten years. Last week marked its fourth consecutive win, with Mark Carney as Prime Minister.  However, the party isn&#8217;t nearly as popular as that showing would lead you to believe – especially in the “prairie provinces,” where voters favored the conservatives by more than <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/canada/canada-election-2025-how-each-province-voted-liberal-fortresses-and-conservative-strongholds/articleshow/120733997.cms?from=mdr">2:1</a>. Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, was so unpopular that he had to step down to avoid a total electoral blowout. 
The Liberal surge in the polls happened around the same time Trump started floating the idea that Canada should become America’s 51st state. Many Canadians, particularly in Canada’s more densely populated east, rallied around Carney as “the best man to take on Trump,” but recent polling suggests that some Canadians would rather be part of the United States – or their own independent country – than remain in Canada under a Liberal government. According to polling from Angus Reid in early April, three-in-10 voters from Alberta and roughly 1-in-3 from neighboring Saskatchewan said that they would support leaving the country if Carney won – at least 20% in each province would have supported secession even if he lost. 
For reference, Quebec – a province with a large, influential openly separatist party – also reported 30% support for secession from Canada. Québécois separatists have existed for centuries, and the Bloc Québécois has been a major force in Canadian politics for decades. By contrast, Western separatism is younger and less organized, and so far, it has been more of a grassroots phenomenon, but as of now, it appears to be just as intense. 
Canada’s prairie provinces are <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/444816/canada-median-age-of-resident-population-by-province/">younger</a>, <a href="https://economicdashboard.alberta.ca/dashboard/gdp-per-capita/">wealthier</a>, less densely populated, and more dependent on resource extraction – mining, drilling, exporting oil. That’s put them into conflict with the federal government, which has taken steps to restrict the construction of pipelines and refineries. Former Prime Minister Trudeau went so far as to argue for phasing out the production of fossil fuels entirely before Western outcry forced him to walk that position back. Carney has also been a vocal advocate of <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/mark-carney-investing-net-zero-climate-solutions-creates-value-and-rewards">net-zero policies</a> and was a leading figure in the ESG movement (Environmental, Social, and Governance) when he worked in the financial sector. He was also an economic advisor to Trudeau, leading many skeptics to fear his government would be more of the same.
Last week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith put forward legislation that would significantly lower the signature threshold for citizen-led referendums – as of now, that legislation has been tabled, and Smith and Carney are currently in talks, which are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/smith-carney-first-step-1.7525714">reportedly</a> going well. However, the possibility of secession appears to be a piece of leverage, and as of now, it’s still on the table.

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On Thursday, President Donald Trump took a step conservatives had been hoping for through many presidencies, issuing an executive order to end the taxpayer subsidization of National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
The directive instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting&#8217;s board of directors to &#8220;cease federal funding&#8221; to both outlets.
In mid-April, the White House released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/the-npr-pbs-grift-has-ripped-us-off-for-too-long/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> delineating its grievances with the two nonprofit public broadcasting organizations, suggesting eliminating taxpayer funding for them.
“For years, American taxpayers have been on the hook for subsidizing National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news,’” the report stated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
For years, Americans have been on the hook for subsidizing NPR and PBS as they spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as “news.”
As <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> has said, funding their biased content is a waste.
🧵 Here are some examples of the trash that passes for “news” at NPR and PBS: <a href="https://t.co/7xlZOKGay1">pic.twitter.com/7xlZOKGay1</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911929632846213532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump’s executive order <a href="https://x.com/rapidresponse47/status/1918134250236461197?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a>: “Unlike in 1967, when the CPB [Corporation of Public Broadcasting] was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence. At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage. No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize.”
“The CPB&#8217;s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not ‘contribute to or otherwise support any political party,’” the order continues. “The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS.  Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens. I therefore instruct the CPB Board of Directors (CPB Board) and all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS.”
In 2021, Katherine Maher, who had just left her position as CEO and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation and later became the CEO of NPR, said at a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/katherine_maher_what_wikipedia_teaches_us_about_balancing_truth_and_beliefs/transcript" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TED talk</a>, “Seeking the truth and seeking to convince others of the truth might not be the right place to start. In fact, our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that&#8217;s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.  I think our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting things done.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“I think our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting important things done.”
— Katherine Maher (NPR CEO) <a href="https://t.co/nCfDcyPbtH">pic.twitter.com/nCfDcyPbtH</a>
&mdash; The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRabbitHole84/status/1856340038574907449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In April 2024, former NPR Editor Uri Berliner published an <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-trust">essay</a> in which he admitted, “An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America. &#8230; At NPR, we hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff.” He continued:
<blockquote>
By my count, NPR hosts <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/03/09/519382847/rep-adam-schiff-on-trumps-wiretapping-claims-and-russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewed Schiff</a> 25 times about Trump and Russia. During many of those conversations, Schiff alluded to purported evidence of collusion. The Schiff talking points became the drumbeat of NPR news reports. But when the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/robert-mueller-report-public/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mueller report</a> found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR’s coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming. &#8230;
In October 2020, the New York Post published the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/21/hunter-biden-laptop-linked-to-fbi-money-laundering-probe-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explosive report</a> about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop containing emails about his sordid business dealings. With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye. 
</blockquote>
Berliner wrote of former NPR CEO John Lansing’s attitude in the wake of the death of George Floyd: “In confessional language he said the leaders of public media, ‘starting with me—must be aware of how we ourselves have benefited from white privilege in our careers. We must understand the unconscious bias we bring to our work and interactions.’ &#8230; He declared that diversity—on our staff and in our audience—was the overriding mission, the ‘North Star’ of the organization. &#8230; Race and identity became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”
He concluded, “What’s notable is the extent to which people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview. And this, I believe, is the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity.”

DOGE Considers Cutting Funding to National Public Radio And The Public Broadcasting Service

Trump Defunds NPR And PBS: ‘No Media Outlet Has A Constitutional Right To Taxpayer Subsidies’

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A conservative media watchdog has a new top priority — defunding NPR and PBS.
The Media Research Center (MRC) is leading a push to defund both public media outlets, urging President Donald Trump, congressional leaders, and governors to strip taxpayer subsidies to these &#8220;far-left media outlets,&#8221; the group revealed exclusively to The Daily Wire.
The watchdog urged the Trump administration to include the &#8220;complete defunding&#8221; of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its affiliates, PBS and NPR, in a rescission package that could soon be sent to Congress.
&#8220;Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize a media entity that has outlived its original purpose and refuses to operate in a transparent manner,&#8221; the MRC wrote in its letter to Trump.
The watchdog is calling on the CEOs of NPR and PBS to subject themselves to public audits and asking members of Congress to refuse to meet with their lobbyists until those audits are done.
The MRC is also calling on congressional leaders to repeal the legislation that created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Finally, the group is calling on state governors and federal agencies to halt all discretionary grants to PBS and NPR until the outlets are audited.
A coalition of critics joined the MRC in signing letters to elected officials, including Seth Dillon, owner of the Babylon Bee; Mike Gonzalez, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation; Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project; Steven Ertelt, editor at LifeNews.com; and Austin Ruse, president of the Center for Family and Human Rights.
&#8220;This action is in concert with your historic promise and rapid delivery of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government,&#8221; the coalition wrote to Trump.
The group argued that the &#8220;original justification&#8221; for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting &#8220;no longer holds.&#8221;
&#8220;In today’s media-rich environment, Americans have unlimited access to news, entertainment, and educational programming,&#8221; they wrote in their letter to Trump.
&#8220;NPR’s and PBS’s demonstrable, documented bias further erodes CPB’s credibility,&#8221; the group wrote. &#8220;NPR’s audience overwhelmingly identifies as liberal, reinforcing the reality that public broadcasting is not a neutral service but a taxpayer-funded ideological platform. Americans should not be forced to finance a network that caters to one side of the political spectrum.&#8221;
Dan Schneider, vice president of the MRC, told The Daily Wire that defunding PBS and NPR is his organization&#8217;s &#8220;top priority right now.&#8221;
The goal is to &#8220;eliminate every dime of taxpayer money that subsidizes these liberal media behemoths,&#8221; Schneider said.
&#8220;This is the most focused and aggressive takedown these outlets have ever faced. It may be the last, best chance taxpayers will ever have to unburden themselves from these leftist propaganda outlets once and for all,&#8221; he said.

EXCLUSIVE: Media Watchdog Goes Full Throttle On Defunding NPR, PBS With Letters To Trump, Congress

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