Dear MoveOn member,
URGENT: Donald Trump just signed a late-night executive order intended to block the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—the entity that funds PBS and public broadcasting—from providing ANY funds for public media.1
This is a direct attack on one of our nation's most trusted public institutions—one that provides essential fact-based journalism and educational programming to communities across America.
And it gets worse: According to news reports, MAGA Republicans in Congress are planning to vote next week on clawing back $1.1 billion in already-budgeted funds, approved during the Biden administration, that public media outlets were counting on.2
If these cuts go through, it'll be a devastating blow to public media.
PBS has served American families for generations, providing educational content for our children and trusted news for adults, like "Frontline," "PBS NewsHour," "Sesame Street," and countless other programs that inform, educate, and connect us. Without federal funding, many of these programs—especially in rural and underserved areas—could disappear.3
Will you rush an emergency donation of $9—or whatever you can—to help our big push to help save public broadcasting? (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
Trump is doing two things at the same time to public broadcasting.
First, he's trying to order the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)—which, to be clear, is independent and not under his control—to halt all funding for PBS and public media, through an executive order.4
The CPB is standing strong against this brazen attack, suing the Trump administration last week after Trump tried to fire CPB board members and making clear that "Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government."5,6
Yet, even if the CPB wins against Trump in court, at the same time, Trump is asking MAGA Republicans in Congress to rescind $1.1 billion that the CPB is counting on to fund public media.
That bill is heading to Congress as early as next week.7 And here's the danger: While typical legislation needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, these catastrophic "rescission" cuts could be steamrolled through the Senate fast using a process called "reconciliation," which would require only 50 votes plus Vice President JD Vance.
But we're not too late. We must still pull out all the stops—right now—to save public broadcasting in Congress.
Please rush $9—or whatever you can afford—and fund our big push to help save PBS and public media. (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
We've defeated past attempts to attack and defund public broadcasting before—even when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress and a Republican president was in the White House—because public support was so overwhelming. And polls still show that Americans still overwhelmingly support public broadcasting.8
So, once again, the future of public media will come down to what on-the-fence Republicans do in the coming days and weeks. With your help, we will:
- Flood Congress with calls and petitions demanding they reject Trump's plan to rescind $1.1 billion in public media funding
- Expose Trump's plan in the media as a dangerous power grab to silence independent journalism, so impacted communities know what's at stake
- Mobilize millions of MoveOn members and other Americans to pressure key senators and representatives to vote NO on Trump's plan to defund public broadcasting
We know from experience that when we organize together, we can stop these attacks. But we need to mobilize NOW to fight back against this executive order—and demand that on-the-fence Republicans stand strong and vote against clawing back this crucial funding.
Please, contribute $9, or whatever you can afford, today—and help us save PBS. (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
The fight to save PBS is about more than just protecting beloved television programs—it's about preserving access to fact-based information and educational content for all Americans. And research shows a clear connection between investment in public media and higher civic engagement.9 No wonder Trump and his MAGA allies want to silence public broadcasting.
Thanks for standing with us as we fight to save public media, and for all you do.
–Joel, Amanda D., Kenia, Toni, and the rest of the team
P.S. Trump's multipronged attack on PBS funding requires an immediate and overwhelming response. Your $9 donation today will help us mobilize to protect funding for this essential public institution. (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
Sources:
1. "Trump signs order cutting funding for NPR, PBS," The Hill, May 2, 2025
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5279089-donald-trump-executive-order-strip-funding-npr-pbs/
2. "White House to Ask Congress to Claw Back Funding From NPR and PBS," The New York Times, April 14, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/business/media/trump-npr-pbs-funding.html
3. "President Trump signs order seeking to end federal funding for NPR and PBS," CNN, May 2, 2025
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/media/trump-cpb-pbs-npr-funding-cut-hnk-intl
4. "CPB fires back at Trump's executive order pulling funding for NPR, PBS," ABC News, May 2, 2025
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cpb-fires-back-trumps-executive-order-pulling-funding/story?id=121400535
5. "Corporation for Public Broadcasting sues Trump after he tries to fire board members," NPR, April 29, 2025
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5381045/cpb-board-members-trump-lawsuit-npr-pbs
6. "CPB fires back at Trump's executive order pulling funding for NPR, PBS," ABC News, May 2, 2025
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cpb-fires-back-trumps-executive-order-pulling-funding/story?id=121400535
7. "House Republican leaders eye rescissions vote in early May," Punchbowl News, April 21, 2025
https://punchbowl.news/article/house/house-gop-leaders-eye-may-rescissions-vote/
8. "Americans more likely to support than oppose continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS," Pew Research Center, March 26, 2025
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/26/americans-more-likely-to-support-than-oppose-continuing-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs/
9. "Civic Engagement Strongly Tied to Local News Habits," Pew Research Center, November 3, 2016
https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2016/11/03/civic-engagement-strongly-tied-to-local-news-habits/
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
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