Is President Trump Going to Defund PBS?

Martin Holmes February 5, 2025, 8:36 am

Helen George, Donald Trump, and Anna Madeley — PBS/Neal Street Prod./BBC / Courtesy Everett Collection; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Helen Williams / ©PBS/Playground Ent. / Courtesy Everett Collection

PBS viewers are worried they could lose access to some of their favorite shows, including All Creatures Great and Small and Call the Midwife, after President Donald Trump‘s new House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has taken aim at the publicly-funded broadcaster.

The news comes as the House, in association with Elon Musk‘s Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee, asked the leaders of PBS and NPR to testify next month to determine whether the networks should continue receiving public money.

According to Politico, DOGE Subcommittee Chair Marjorie Taylor Greene sent the request to the executives in a letter Monday morning (February 3). In her letter to PBS CEO Paula Kerge, Greene wrote that the subcommittee “is planning a hearing on federally funded radio and television, including its systemically biased content.”

She continued, “The Subcommittee is concerned by Public Broadcasting Service’s (PBS) blatantly ideological and partisan coverage and looks forward to your participation in our upcoming hearing. The Subcommittee seeks to better understand PBS’ position on providing Americans with accurate information.”

As an example, the letter stated that PBS recently implied that Musk made a fascist salute while speaking at an event celebrating Trump’s inauguration on January 20. “The characterization was clearly false. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a group that focuses on combating antisemitism,” Greene wrote in her letter.

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PBS has fired back, revealing that an internal poll obtained by Axios‘ Sara Fischer found “65% of Trump voters think the public broadcaster is either underfunded or adequately funded.”

Axios also reported that “82% of voters, including 72% of Trump voters, said they valued PBS for its children’s programming and educational tools,” according to the poll results.

PBS is a free-to-air television network that launched on October 5, 1970. It’s best known for its educational programs, including Sesame Street, Magic School Bus, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, and more. The network also hosts several news programs, including Frontline, PBS NewsHour, and Firing Line.

In addition, PBS is home to a number of scripted programming, including the Masterpiece series All Creatures Great and Small and British dramas such as Call The Midwife, Miss Scarlet, Grantchester, The Marlow Murder Club, and many more.

This isn’t the first time PBS has come under attack. In 2012, former GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney said during a debate that he’d “stop the subsidy to PBS” if he became president, adding, “I like PBS, I love Big Bird… But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.”