S. 518 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Feb 11, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryEnds federal funding for PBS and NPR
This bill would stop the federal government from giving money to PBS, National Public Radio (NPR), and any future organizations that replace them. It would also prevent public broadcast stations from using federal funds to pay dues to or buy programming from these organizations. Any money that would have gone to PBS or NPR in the next three years would instead go to the Treasury Department to help reduce the national debt.
How it affects you
If you watch PBS or listen to NPR, these services would lose their federal funding and would need to find other ways to pay for operations and programming. Public broadcast stations that rely on federal funds would no longer be able to use that money for these services. This affects how these organizations operate, though the summary doesn't specify exactly what programming or services might change.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Feb 11, 2025)
Defund Government-Sponsored Propaganda Act
This bill prohibits federal funding of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Public Radio (NPR), and any successor organization to PBS or NPR. The prohibition extends to the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from PBS or NPR by a public broadcast station using federal funds.
The bill also directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to transfer to the Department of the Treasury for the purpose of reducing the public debt an amount equal to certain funding that would have otherwise been provided to PBS or NPR in FY2025-FY2027.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 518
A BILL
Defund Government-Sponsored Propaganda Act
Sponsor: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) · Introduced Feb 11, 2025 · Science, Technology, Communications · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Feb 11, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.”