Republican Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Ted Cruz of Texas sent National Public Radio (NPR) a letter Tuesday questioning the outlet’s editorial standards.
Uri Berliner, who cited examples of the publicly-funded network’s bias in an essay published by the Free Press on April 9, 2024, that outlined the network’s lack of “viewpoint diversity,” posted his resignation on X eight days later, one day after news he was suspended without pay broke. Ernst and Cruz cited the resignation in their letter, which sought answers about the findings generated from a $1.9 million “Editorial Enhancement Grant” that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) gave to NPR. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Joni Ernst Reveals Several Examples Of Bureaucrats Bilking Taxpayers)
“Millions in tax dollars should not be wasted funding purely partisan propaganda,” Ernst told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has its hand out asking for nearly $600 million in government funding but wants to keep the American people at arm’s length when it comes to transparency. That’s not going to fly. NPR has been ground zero for blatant bias in reporting and we need answers on how editorial standards are judged as Congress evaluates whether to continue trusting CPB with taxpayers’ hard-earned money.”
Ernst and Cruz accused NPR of failing to abide by the conditions of the grant, noting there were reports CPB was withholding some of the $1.9 million.
“On May 21, 2025, staff of Senator Joni Ernst corresponded with CPB, inquiring about the Editorial Enhancement Grant and CPB’s evaluation of editorial bias at NPR,” Ernst and Cruz wrote in the letter. “However, when pressed for specifics—including the terms of the grant agreement with NPR as well as copies of the interim reports NPR has provided to CPB necessitating the withholding of taxpayer funds—CPB staff responded, ‘I checked with colleagues, and unfortunately I’m not able to share the grant reporting we received due to the terms of our contract with NPR.’”
“Withholding basic information from Congress about the grants to NPR is unacceptable. It raises doubts about CPB’s commitment to transparency and public accountability,” Ernst and Cruz continued. “Ultimately, this sort of obstruction when faced with a routine congressional oversight request raises concerns about whether Congress can trust CPB to receive taxpayer funds at all, never mind the robust $595 million CPB is requesting for Fiscal Year 2027.”
The CPB is a non-profit corporation created in 1967 that receives funds via congressional appropriations and passes it on to NPR and PBS stations, the CPB website says. The Office of Management and Budget listed $1.1 billion for CPB as part of a recissions package sent to Congress Tuesday.
The United States government is forbidden from exercising “any direction, supervision, or control over the content or distribution of public telecommunications programs and services” under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.
NPR didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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