Trump’s FCC Launches Investigation into NPR, PBS

President Donald Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, has ordered an investigation into NPR and PBS, stating his concern that the public broadcasters “could be violating federal law by airing commercials.” 

Carr wrote a letter on Wednesday to the presidents and chief executives of NPR and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula Kerger, alleging that “it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”

Carr added that he is providing a copy of the letter to members of Congress because he believes the investigation will be relevant to the ongoing legislative debate of whether or not to defund NPR and PBS.

“In particular, Congress is actively considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming. For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace since the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967,” Carr wrote.

“To the extent that these taxpayer dollars are being used to support a for profit endeavor or an entity that is airing commercial advertisements, then that would further undermine any case for continuing to fund NPR and PBS with taxpayer dollars,” he added.

The FCC oversees the actions of approximately 1,500 broadcasting stations across the U.S., which hold licenses granted by the commission to use public airwaves for radio and television, according to NPR. Public broadcasting stations are barred from running commercials, but are permitted to run “corporate underwriting spots, which are supposed to stop shy of a ‘call to action’ telling listeners to buy a product or service.”

Both Kerger and Maher shared statements with NPR rejecting the claim that the public broadcasters have broken federal law.

“PBS is proud of the noncommercial educational programming we provide to all Americans through our member stations,” Kerger said. “We work diligently to comply with the FCC’s underwriting regulations and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that to the Commission.”

“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” Maher said. “We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”

NPR said it obtains approximately 1 percent of its funding from the federal government directly every year, although Influence Watch reports that the broadcaster “receives almost 10 percent of its budget from federal, state, and local governments indirectly.” A PBS network spokesperson told NPR it receives 16 percent from the federal government each year.

Republicans, including Trump, have been calling for years to defund NPR and PBS over the broadcasters’ obvious left-wing bias. In April of 2024, an NPR senior editor unveiled several examples of blatant network bias — including the fact that, at the time, NPR employed 87 registered Democrats in editorial positions and zero Republicans in the same positions in its Washington, DC, headquarters. NPR has denied those claims and accusations of political bias.

Following that revelation, Trump called again for the defunding of NPR, calling the broadcaster “a total scam.”

“No more funding for NPR, a total scam! Editor said they have no Republicans, and is only used to ‘damage Trump,’” Trump said. “They are a liberal disinformation machine. Not one dollar!!!”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in December that he would also like to axe funding to PBS as part of the Trump administration’s DOGE-led effort to cut excessive spending.