Kennedy’s “No Propaganda Act” comes on the heels of cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has already canceled government contracts, leases, and grants. According to the department, this has already saved $55 billion. The department intends to disband on July 4, 2026. 

“We’re spending half a billion dollars a year, 14 and a half billion dollars over time, to give to people at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR and NPS [sic] to participate in opinion journalism, which they’re entitled to do, but they can’t do it on the taxpayer dime. They’re doing it on the taxpayer dime, but they shouldn’t be able to,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor.

According to the senator, NPR’s newest headquarters in Washington, D.C., cost over $200 million. Meanwhile, its hosts earn up to $532,000 a year, and its chief diversity officer makes about $320,000 a year. Both NPR and PBS take federal funding but also accept donations from their customers, which Kennedy suggested are dwindling.

“And you know what? Despite all of this money that the American taxpayer are giving to these left-of-center entities, their viewership has declined. Because people don’t need them anymore,” Kennedy said. “They can go exist on their own if they want to, but I do want to defund them. We’re running $36 trillion in debt. This is disgraceful in 2025. It’s disgraceful whether it is left-of-center opinion journalism or right-of-center opinion journalism. It is disgraceful for the American people to have to fund this rot.”

JAKE TAPPER AND ALEX THOMPSON RELEASE BOOK ON BIDEN’S COGNITIVE DECLINE

This follows NPR’s online scuffle with X owner Elon Musk, who gave the public radio station a “state-affiliated media” marker on its profile. It has since left the social media platform and remains active on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

Meanwhile, DOGE continues to examine NASA’s spending, as well as that of the Education, Homeland Security, Defense, and Treasury departments.