Tell our Members of Congress: Oppose cuts to PBS and NPR
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call ONE of the Representatives. Note: only one of these Congressmembers represents you. Find out which one here.
Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
I’m asking the Representative/Senator to protect funding for NPR and PBS in the budget against Trump’s proposed cuts. Thank you.
Background
In America, freedom of speech is paramount. It was the first thing the Framers added to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights. It is the right to speak out against injustice, and the right of the free press to document the actions of the government.
Everyone in the United States has the right to free speech promised under our Constitution. You have this right whether you are an immigrant or a citizen, a reporter or a protester.
Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, student protesters, have the right to speak their minds. Whether or not Trump or anyone else agrees with them, they have the right to criticize a government’s actions. And yet ICE agents abducted both of them in retaliation for expressing their opinions.
Trump is also trying to stop universities from teaching students about racism and sexism. He’s threatened a series of universities with cutting their funding, and several have already bent the knee—and when Harvard stood up to them, he slashed their funding and is considering revoking their tax-exempt status.
Trump has been punishing journalists for covering his regime. He’s slashed staff at Voice of America and tried to shut down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. A federal judge in D.C. is hindering the latter, so Trump is instead withholding their already congressionally approved monthly funding, defying a court order. He’s banned the AP from the White House press pool, and still hasn’t restored full access, defying another court order.
And now, following a sham investigation he ordered on January 30, he’s turned his sights on NPR and PBS, two stalwarts of domestic public broadcasting in the United States that run on listener/viewer donations, private donations, and Congressional funding. Trump is targeting that last one by proposing $1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds both broadcasters. At least he’s asking Congress nicely this time!
Trump does not want people in the US to speak out against injustice. He does not even want us to know about it. And so his regime throws people in a foreign prison, then claims powerlessness to bring them back, and meanwhile threatens media organizations that aren’t parroting the Party line.
We see what Trump is doing to speech and we must raise our voices to say, “hell no!”
Limiting or eliminating freedom of speech, has and will continue to be a prime target in authoritarian governments. We have to protect this right in order to protect all of our rights.
References
Who is Mahmoud Khalil, the protester the Trump admin wants to [remove from the country]?, NPR, March 11, 2025
Tell Your Members of Congress: Demand the Immediate Release of Mahmoud Khalil, Indivisible SF, March 22, 2025
Attorney for detained Tufts student [Rumeysa Ozturk] discusses her detention and immigration hearing, NPR, April 15, 2025
Higher ed war heats up as Trump threatens Harvard's tax-exempt status, NPR, April 15, 2025
Trump administration freezes more than $2.2 billion after Harvard rejects demands, NPR, April 15, 2025
Trump officials cut billions in Harvard funds after university defies demands, the Guardian, April 14, 2025
Trump plans order to cut funding for NPR and PBS, NPR, April 15, 2025
White House to ask Congress to cut $9B in funds, including for NPR, PBS, USAID, The Hill, April 14, 2025Defund the Facts: How Trump’s $9B Rescission Targets America’s Public Voice and Global Reach, Coffman Chronicle, April 15, 2025
This Week's US Congressional Call Scripts:
