Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks introduced legislation Friday to defund National Public Radio (NPR).
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the legislation, which is titled the Defund NPR Act. The bill would cut off any federal funds to NPR.
An NPR editor, Uri Berliner, published a piece alleging the outlet has deep political bias and that the Washington D.C. bureau employs 87 registered Democrats and zero registered Republicans.
Berliner resigned after NPR suspended him for publishing the piece.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, and Representative Jim Banks (R), Republican of Indiana, holds a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 9, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
President and CEO of NPR John F. Lansing (L) and US President Joe Biden attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, April 29, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
NPR’s new CEO, Katherine Maher, has also made headlines as old tweets and clips of her show political bias. Maher, who was hired in March, previously expressed support for President Joe Biden’s campaign in 2020 and called former President Donald Trump a “racist” in 2018. She has also described the First Amendment as “the number one challenge” to combatting “misinformation.” (RELATED: New NPR CEO Said ‘Reverence For The Truth’ May Be ‘Distraction’ In Resurfaced TED Talk)
“NPR’s new CEO is a radical, left-wing activist who doesn’t believe in free speech or objective journalism. Hoosiers shouldn’t be writing her paychecks. Katherine Maher isn’t qualified to teach an introductory journalism class, much less capable of responsibly spending millions of American tax dollars,” Banks told the Caller before introducing the bill. (RELATED: NPR Editor Who Exposed Newsroom’s Left-Wing Bias Resigns)
READ THE LEGISLATION HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“NPR was a liberal looney bin under the last CEO John Lansing, and it’s about to get even nuttier. It’s time to pull the plug on this national embarrassment. Congress must stop spending other people’s hard-earned money on low grade propaganda,” he added. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Gaetz Calls For Taxpayer-Funded NPR To Explain Affiliate Airing Louis Farrakhan’s Speeches)
The legislation has appeared to pick up the support of businessman Elon Musk, who said it was “great” Banks is introducing the bill.