Amid growing calls to end the taxpayer funding of media outlets, which are often accused of extreme partisan bias, Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls of Richmond called for defunding National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
“Defund NPR. Defund PBS,” Nehls wrote in a post on X Tuesday.
Recently, the Media Research Center referred to NPR as “an echo chamber for leftist media outlets.”
A study on the non-profit organization found that “there are no conservative-media podcasts distributed on NPR affiliates” and that the “Fresh Air” program has shown an “undeniable tilt” against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk since the beginning of 2025.
Nehls isn’t the only Texas politician who is speaking out against outlets such as NPR. There is increasing concern in Washington that the media company is spreading leftist propaganda subsidized by American taxpayers.
During a House Oversight Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee hearing on Wednesday regarding federal funding for NPR and PBS, U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud of Victoria questioned NPR CEO Katherine Maher about the media outlet’s biased news coverage as a recipient of taxpayer dollars.
Cloud, a member of the DOGE Committee, told Maher, “NPR fancies itself as a nonpartisan news outlet,” and states that “we should consider all things” and that “all things are considered.”
However, Cloud pointed out that NPR’s history shows political bias and that “there are a number of things that they have not considered.”
Specifically, Cloud told Maher that the outlet asked people not to consider the Hunter Biden laptop scandal as accurate and was dismissive about theories that COVID-19 originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.
He also stated that NPR “interviewed Russia collusion hoaxster Adam Schiff 25 times, who claimed to have a vault of information in his office leading to the impeachment of President Trump, which we now know was all fraudulent.”
DOGE Committee member U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill of North Texas also attended the hearing and reminded the NPR CEO about social media posts she had made in the past, apparently supporting the idea of reparations.
Back in February, Gill expressed alarm about the federal government’s funding of “media outlets that are running cover for Democrats routinely—NPR, PBS, the BBC, Politico.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has referred to NPR as “corrupt” and raised questions about the left-wing ideology of Maher, who, as reported in The Daily Mail, called the First Amendment “the ‘number one challenge’ in American journalism during a panel discussion” in 2021.
“NPR has been profoundly corrupted, and it’s been made worse by hiring a CEO who is a radical leftist who doesn’t believe in the First Amendment,” Cruz previously said in a post on X.
“NPR should be defunded,” he added, “Why on earth are taxpayers forced to pay for leftwing propaganda?”
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
