While Republicans Fret Over Self-Image, Subcommittee Democrats Call Out GOP Attacks on Children’s Programs and Free Speech
Washington, D.C. (March 27, 2025)—At a hearing in the Subcommittee on Delivering for Government Efficiency (DOGE), Rep. Stephen Lynch led Committee Democrats in defending Mr. Rogers and early childhood education from Trump and Musk attacks while dismissing pathetic Republican grievances about their coverage in the free press.
The hearing occurred in the midst of a national security catastrophe regarding the Trump Administration’s reckless sharing of secret war plans on Signal, and as Republicans avoided the Subcommittee’s clear responsibility to conduct oversight of DOGE’s campaign to dismantle the federal government, undermine checks and balances, and put the interest of billionaires before the American people.
“I’m sad to see that this once proud committee, the principle investigative committee in the House of Representatives, has now stooped to the lowest levels of partisanship and political theater to hold a hearing to go after the likes of Elmo and Cookie Monster and Arthur the Aardvark. All for the unforgivable sin of teaching the alphabet to low-income families—children— and providing accessible local news and programming,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch in his opening statement.
The hearing included testimony from Ed Ulman, President and CEO, Alaska Public Media; Katherine Maher, Chief Executive Officer, National Public Radio; Paula A. Kerger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Public Broadcasting Service; and Michael Gonzalez, Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation.
While Committee Republicans complained that some news stories make them look bad, Democrats underscored how independent public media serves America’s kids and keeps our communities informed, engaged, and safe at the national and local level.
- Rep. Greg Casar highlighted the importance of not-for-profit programming to the nation’s children: “I just heard my colleagues talking about educational programming for kids on YouTube; that stuff is loaded with ads... they’re selling you and your kids stuff. ... They’re trying to make a profit off of you. That’s why I got sat in front of Mr. Rogers, because you got to learn something and they weren’t just trying to sell you junk. It’s better for our kids, it’s better for our families, and we should actually be supporting public broadcasting instead of this [other] stuff.”
- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton emphasized the important role public broadcasting can play in celebrating local communities and lifting up kids: “WETA, DC’s local PBS station, is proudly home to the world’s longest-running high school quiz show, It’s Academic. For over 60 years, the show has showcased some of the best and brightest high school students in the capital region. President Reagan once praised It’s Academic as ‘a reminder of the importance of education,’ and even Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made a guest appearance. One area student who competed on the show said, ‘It’s made me a lot smarter and getting to say that I’ve been on a TV show is really cool.’”
- In his testimony, Mr. Ed Ulman, of Alaska Public Media, explained the critical role public broadcasting has played in keeping rural Alaskans—and other communities around the country—safe and informed, “Public media is often the only locally operated, locally controlled broadcasting service. We are more than nice to have; we are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasting cannot succeed.” He went on to note the critical communication channels that public broadcasting stations help to provide, “Nationwide, our public television interconnection system supports the PBS warning alert response network, a critical pathway for the distribution of wireless emergency alerts to cell phones. Public television pioneered data casting technology to enable public safety officials to communicate with each other without the need for broadband or cell service. In partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, public television has proven how this technology can assist rural search and rescue over-water communications, large event crowd control, and even school safety incidents.”
Committee Democrats called out Trump and his allies for attacking public media to silence free speech and distract Americans from disastrous Republican budget cuts and corruption at the highest levels.
- Rep. Jasmine Crockett confronted the motive behind Republican attacks on free speech: “It should not be surprising that the President is doing everything possible to make it more difficult for the media to hold him accountable, and for the public to be informed about his reckless and illegal behavior. Yet here we are: the Republicans have actually organized this goofy hearing to try to convince the American people that PBS and NPR are ‘domestic threats’—not the incompetent, unqualified Secretary of Defense who’s texting war plans to journalists—but it’s PBS and NPR the American people are supposed to be worried about.”
- Rep. Casar denounced the Republicans’ crooked shell game of cutting spending on public goods to pay for tax cuts for their wealthy donors: “There is money to pay not just for PBS and NPR but health care for every American, tuition-free trade school and community college for every American, to end homelessness on the streets of our cities, but my Republican colleagues don’t want to talk about the corporate waste, fraud, and abuse because those corporations fund the Republicans’ campaigns. So instead, they want to shut down educational programming for kids and their families, and they want to shut down local radio stations. To borrow a phrase from Sesame Street, the letter of the day is C and it stands for corruption.”
- Rep. Ro Khanna laid bare the absurdity of Republicans’ assault on public media on the pretense of cutting the deficit by questioning Mr. Mike Gonzalez, a contributing author of Project 2025, on the supposed cost savings Gonzalez proposed:
- Rep. Khanna asked, “What is the cost of public broadcasting as a percent of the federal budget?” to which Mr. Gonzalez responded, “I don’t know.”
- Rep. Khanna followed up, saying “You’re talking about the $36 trillion of debt that we have, you’re saying this [public broadcasting] is a really important thing that we need to cut: you didn’t research out what percent it is?”
- Mr. Gonzalez replied, “It’s important in principle...” to which Rep. Khanna said, “The principle is a different thing. You’re saying this is an effective strategy to cut debt, and you have no idea what percentage it is of the budget? It’s 0.01%.”
- Rep. Khanna asked, “What is the cost of public broadcasting as a percent of the federal budget?” to which Mr. Gonzalez responded, “I don’t know.”
Committee Democrats highlighted how Republicans’ campaign against public media is an attack on Democracy and the free press designed to keep Americans from accessing free and unbiased reporting.
- Rep. Emily Randall explained how the reliable reporting from public media is a vital resource that helps keep Americans informed in our fractured media environment: “We all used to operate from the same baseline of information, but today it is no secret that we are operating in a much more diversified and fractured media environment. The content space, the use of AI generated content—Americans now have to be able to discern for themselves whether something they are hearing is true or not, but investing in public media is a bedrock to our healthy, critically informed and engaged public and our democracy.”
- Rep. Robert Garcia pointed out that public media is a trusted source of news and that Republicans actually called this hearing to censor and attack the free press, whose coverage they dislike: “At a time where we can’t agree on basic facts and while the free press is under attack, we need public media like PBS and NPR more than ever. A large majority of Americans say they trust PBS and that’s exactly why extremists are trying to tear it down. Public broadcasting is a tool for education, for emergencies, and a cherished part of our national fabric. We get huge benefits from a tiny federal investment. The majority, and our Chairwoman, should drop this attempt to silence media voices they don’t like. So the message I think today is very, very simple: If we’re going to get rid of any puppeteers, we should get rid of the one that’s actually controlling Donald Trump: Fire Elon Musk and save Elmo.”
###