Capito, Justice support clawing back funding from PBS, NPR, foreign aid

The legislation would claw back $1.1 billion in funding approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which contributes to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service, West Virginia Public Broadcasting and hundreds of other local stations across the country. The money was meant to cover the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, and the year following.

The legislation also cancels about $8 billion in foreign aid spending that Congress had appropriated for dozens of programs, including global health initiatives.

Trump and other Republicans have criticized NPR and PBS broadcasts for being politically biased and called them a “waste of money.�

The funding cut represents only about 1% of the budget for NPR and 16% for PBS, according to Poynter. Both agencies also get federal funding indirectly from member stations. Local stations rely on the funding for much more of their budgets.

Is W.Va. Public Broadcasting at risk?

Speaking to West Virginia MetroNews Talkline on Thursday, Eddie Isom, executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting said it’s too early to say what the impact of the legislation will mean locally. He noted that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is just one of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s funding sources.

“This happened hours ago, and myself and other local stations really haven’t had an opportunity to digest this in any way,� Isom said. “So we’re still kind of in a wait-and-see mode at the moment. “

Isom said he anticipates having meetings with managers of other local TV and radio stations as they try to figure out how they’ll be affected.

“It’s just so early now to make any kind of determination of the exact effect this is going to have,� he said. “I’m not saying it’s not going to have any effect. We just don’t know what that’s going to look like in the future.�

What they said

In a statement Thursday morning, Justice said he was proud to cast his vote in support of what he called a “commonsense� rescission package.

“The days of wasting money with zero regard for the taxpayer are over,� he said. “This package helps keep folks’ tax dollars from being spent on out-of-touch nonsense on the other side of the world and keeps it where it should be: in the pockets of hardworking West Virginians. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are back to putting Americans first.�

In her statement, Capito said that Senate Republicans listened to the American people who want them to rein in spending.

“Senate Republicans responded by passing a rescissions package that eliminates wasteful spending, an important step towards getting America’s fiscal house back in order,� she said. “The last four years saw example after example of misused taxpayer dollars. I am proud to support this legislation that takes a small but necessary step to rein in federal spending and save taxpayer dollars.�

What's next

The bill will now go back to the House of Representatives — which already passed it — to approve any changes the Senate made to it. Congress has until Friday — 45 days after Trump requested the rescission — to complete the bill or allow all the funding to be restored.