4 Takeaways as House DOGE Panel Grills NPR, PBS Chiefs

The heads of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service testified about content and fielded questions about bias in a hearing Wednesday, as House Republicans called for defunding. 

NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger answered questions from the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, or the DOGE subcommittee.

The House DOGE subcommittee was established to assist the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by entrepreneur Elon Musk. 

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Republicans focused heavily on perceived liberal bias present in news coverage from NPR, while Democrats focused almost solely on PBS and children’s educational programming. 

Here are four key takeaways from the hearing. 

1. ‘Hate us on Your Own Dime’

Subcommittee Chair Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called for defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

She stressed that private businesses have to survive on their own, and said, “Here’s the deal, you all can hate us on your own dime.”

“After listening to what we’ve heard today, we will be calling for the complete and total defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” Greene said. 

During the hearing, Greene questioned Maher. 

“You’ve also expressed support for deplatforming individuals who you view as fascist,” she said to Maher. “Who do you think should be charged with cracking down on so-called bad information? Is it NPR? Is it the government? Is it you?”

Maher replied, “I’m a very strong believer in free speech.”

2. ‘Is Elmo … a Member of the Communist Party?’

Democrats primarily focused on “Sesame Street” on PBS and very little on NPR. 

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., mocked the hearing and talked about “Sesame Street” characters. 

“Is Elmo now or has he ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States?” Garcia asked, with a display of Elmo behind him.

Kerger of PBS replied, “No.”

Garcia followed, “He’s obviously red.”

Kerger said, “Well, he is a puppet, but no.”

Garcia said, “He also has a very dangerous message about sharing and helping each other.”

Garcia noted that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting healthy eating, and brought out a cardboard display of Cookie Monster, also a “Sesame Street” character.

“Let’s talk about Cookie Monster. We know that Health Secretary RFK Jr. is coming out against fast food and baked goods. Are we silencing pro-cookie voters?” Garcia asked. 

Kerger said, “Cookies are a sometimes food.”

Garcia further said, “Since Elon Musk fired [Department of Agriculture] workers who were working on the bird flu, does it also make sense to fire Big Bird?”

Kerger said, “We would like to keep Big Bird.”

Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow for national security and foreign policy at The Heritage Foundation, noted during his testimony that “Sesame Street” was sold to HBO a decade ago. 

“As far as educational value, we have an unending stream of educational content online. I can reel off a number of websites people can access. YouTube channels where kids of all income levels can access. But it goes back to the basic unfairness that conservatives for over 50 years have been saying, ‘You’re completely bias,’ and they have the audacity to say, ‘Well, no we’re not, and you have to just pay us.’”

During the hearing, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., asked Gonzalez about the need for public broadcasting when there are so many media outlets. 

 “At one point in time there was very limited access to news and there was an appropriate time when potentially we needed to have state-sponsored news. Do we need that today?”

Gonzalez quoted Thomas Jefferson. 

“He said, ‘To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.’ This is what I base my opposition to public funding for media,” Gonzalez said. 

3. Old Tweets

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, asked Maher about her past tweets. 

Maher said in response that her “thinking has evolved.”

“Do you believe that America is addicted to white supremacy?” Gill asked. 

“I believe that I tweeted that and, as I’ve said earlier, I believe much of my thinking has evolved over the last half-decade,” Maher replied. 

Gill later followed, “Do you believe that America believes in black plunder and white democracy?”

Maher said, “I don’t believe that, sir.”

He followed, “You tweeted that in reference to a book you were reading at the time, apparently ‘The Case for Reparations.’”

Maher said, “I don’t think I’ve ever read that book, sir.”

Gill reminded her, “You tweeted about it. You said you took a day off to fully read ‘The Case for Reparations.’ You posted that on Twitter in January of 2020.”

Later Gill asked, “Do you believe that white people inherently feel superior to other races?”

Maher replied, “I do not.”

By this point, unsurprisingly, Gill noted, “You tweeted something to that effect. You said: ‘I grew up feeling superior (hah, how white of me)’ Why did you tweet that?”

Also, during the questions, Gill asked: “A few years ago NPR educated America about ‘the whole community of genderqueer dinosaur enthusiasts.’ Do you think that’s an appropriate use of tax dollars?” 

Maher answered, “I was not at NPR at the time.”

Gill pressed for whether it was a legitimate use of tax dollars.

“Our tax dollars that we use are to be able to provide a wide range of programming,” Maher replied. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Gill said. 

4. Coverage of Biden Scandals, COVID-19, Russia Collusion

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer noted NPR was wrong about the Hunter Biden laptop, and the origins of COVID-19, and the discredited conspiracy theory about Trump collusion with the Russian government. 

“NPR gets federal funds. I have a problem with that, because if people in Alaska, if all they have is public radio, then all they know is what these headlines say,” he said. 

During the committee’s investigation of various Biden family influence-peddling operations and 28 shell companies, Comer noted that NPR went after him for allegedly owning a shell company. 

Comer said he had a limited liability company that he fully disclosed. 

Maher said, “I was not at NPR at the time and I am not familiar with the story.”

“Joe Biden’s last act as president of the U.S. pardoning his entire family preemptively for an 11-year period, which just so happened to be the 11-year period that this committee investigated the Bidens,” Comer continued. 

“I don’t think NPR reported on the pardons, but they reported a lot about how there was no evidence of any wrongdoing and things that just weren’t true,” Comer continued. 

Maher said she recognized Comer’s concerns. 

“One of the first things I did in coming in May was to beef up our editorial standards … to bring in more editors to make sure we have more points of view reflected in every story.”