The Republicans accused the public media NPR and PBS of bias at an audience of the Chamber Subcommittee on Wednesday, while the Democrats defended the organizations and criticized the event as a distraction of the current controversy on the use of the application of signal messages by the Trump administration for the communication of confidential information.
During the hearing, the Republicans asked for the end of the media financed by the taxpayers when they accused the media of promoting a “awakened ideology” for the younger public, since the Democrats sought to have fun in the audience by interrogating the witnesses about the intrítics of Elmo and the cookie monsters, since they accused the Republicans of spending the time.
The president and executive director of PBS, Paula Kerger and the president and executive director of NPR, Katherine Maher, refuted the accusations of bias, saying that the points of sale comply with the journalistic standards and serve a diverse audience that includes rural spectators.
American representative Robert García (D-CA) speaks in front of the poster of Bert and Ernie de Sesame Street during a hearing of the Government Reform Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States Capitol on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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“I listen, respect and understand their concerns about bias and if public media are relevant in a commercial scene,” Maher said. “It is essential that the NPR writing room operates with the highest journalistic standards. That means that they do their job independently, and as CEO I do not have an editorial role in NPR.”
Minutes later, Kerger added: “PBS stations focus on the needs and interests of the spectators they serve. Especially in rural areas, PBS stations are the only points of sale that provide coverage for local events, for example, secondary sports, local history and culture content, candidate debates at each level of the electoral ballot and specialized agricultural news.”
The hearing, entitled “The Anti -American Waves: Responsible for the Chiefs of NPR and PBS”, was retained by the Government Efficiency Subcommittee (Doge), whose name is echoed in the Government’s efficiency department, the Trump administration cost reduction initiative supervised by Elon Musk.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of G-GA., Criticized NPR and PBS during the audience for what she called Liberal bias, pointing to federal funds for the points of sale as the objective of possible cuts.
“NPR and PBS have become increasingly the left -wing radical cameras for a narrow audience of liberals and mostly urban progressive, rich, white, white,” Greene said.
The representative Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., Defended the public media and criticized the audience as a distraction for more important issues often addressed by the Chamber’s Supervision Committee, the largest body to which the subcommitte dux belongs.
“I am sad to see this committee once proud, the main investigation committee in the House of Representatives, has now inclined to the lowest levels of partisanship and political theater to celebrate an audience to persecute the tastes of Elmo and Cookie Monster and Arthur the Aardvark,” Lynch said.
The representative of the president of the Committee, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, observes during a hearing of the Government Reform Committee and Government Supervision on Public Transmission Services in Capitol Hill on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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Later at the Audience, representative Robert García, a Democrat of California, said Sarcastically: “Is Elmo now, or has he been a member of the Communist Party?”
Another Democratic legislator, the representative Greg Casar, of Texas, said: “Leave Elmo Solo, brings Elon to interrogate in his place,” referring to billionaire Elon Musk, who is the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency of the Trump administration.
The representative James Eat, R-Ky., He abruptly criticized NPR’s previous coverage on the origins of COVID-19 and a Chamber investigation into the Biden family, which he led.
“I think you have abused the privilege you had with the reception of federal funds,” he said, sitting in front of the posters with NPR headlines with which he said he gave him problems.
In response, Maher, from NPR, said: “I want to recognize his concerns,” noting that he took measures to “reinforce our editorial standards” after taking his post last year.
The president and CEO of the Public Radiodice Service, Paula Kerger, testifies during an audience of the Government Reform Committee of the House of Representatives in the United States Capitol on March 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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“Why is NPR even doing editorials?” Eating responded, exasperated and apparently confused about what the “editorial standards” meant. “Do you even need an opinion? If you are an entity funded by the federal government that is supposed to provide the news?”
“I mean, editorial standards for our journalism … bringing more editors to make sure we have more views reflected in each story. I have participated in a series of actions,” he said, before eating interrupted it.
“I have lost confidence in public radio,” he said.
While the media chiefs defended their editorial standards, Maher acknowledged that the management of the stations in the history of the laptop Hunter Biden was “a mistake.”
“I want to say that NPR acknowledges that we were wrong and not covering the history of the laptop Biden Hunter more aggressively and before,” said Maher.
