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H.R.1595 / 119th Congress

Defund NPR Act

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 26, 2025

Defund NPR Act

This bill prohibits federal funding of National Public Radio (NPR) or any successor organization. The prohibition includes the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from NPR by a public broadcast station using federal funds.

Read the summary on Congress.gov

Who introduced it

Rep. Cammack, Kat [R-FL-3] · R–FL

Committees

  • Energy and Commerce Committee
2 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Introduced in House

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

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Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze H.R.1595 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

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Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine H.R.1595 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

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Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine H.R.1595 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

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Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine H.R.1595 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

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Read the proposal in plain language

AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Nov 2, 2026

Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-26 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.

What it would do

The proposed Defund NPR Act would prohibit federal money from supporting National Public Radio (NPR) or any successor organization, directly or indirectly. Public broadcast stations could not use federal funds to pay NPR membership dues or buy its programming. The restriction would begin after enactment. The supplied text is an introduced bill, not evidence that these restrictions became law.

Check the sources
After the date of enactment of the Defund NPR Act, no Federal funds may, directly or indirectly, be made available to or used to support an organization described in paragraph (2), including through the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from the organization by a public broadcast station using Federal funds received by the station.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-26
(A) the organization known, as of the date of enactment of the Defund NPR Act, as National Public Radio; and (B) any successor organization to the organization described in subparagraph (A).
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-26
2025-02-26: Introduced in House
Official legislative record · 2025-12-05T22:01:11Z

How it would work

Section 2 would add the funding prohibition to the Communications Act of 1934. It would apply after enactment to both direct federal funding and indirect federal support, expressly including public broadcast stations’ purchases of programming and payments of dues using federal funds.

Check the sources
Section 396 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 396) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-26
After the date of enactment of the Defund NPR Act, no Federal funds may, directly or indirectly, be made available to or used to support an organization described in paragraph (2), including through the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from the organization by a public broadcast station using Federal funds received by the station.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-26

The prohibition would cover the organization known as NPR on the enactment date and any organization that succeeds it.

Check the source
(2) Organizations described The organizations described in this paragraph are— (A) the organization known, as of the date of enactment of the Defund NPR Act, as National Public Radio; and (B) any successor organization to the organization described in subparagraph (A).
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-26

The bill would also delete references to NPR from three existing Communications Act provisions: the first sentence of section 396(k)(4), every occurrence in section 396(k)(9), and section 398(b)(1). The supplied bill does not reproduce those provisions, so it does not establish their full meaning before or after these deletions.

Check the source
(1) in section 396(k) (47 U.S.C. 396(k))— (A) in paragraph (4), in the first sentence, by striking or National Public Radio; and (B) in paragraph (9), by striking or National Public Radio each place that term appears; and (2) in section 398(b)(1) (47 U.S.C. 398(b)(1)), by striking and National Public Radio.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-26

What the record shows

The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated December 5, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on February 26, 2025. It does not establish subsequent legislative action or enactment.

Check the source
Source snapshot updated 2025-12-05T22:01:11Z. 2025-02-26: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 2025-02-26: Introduced in House
Official legislative record · 2025-12-05T22:01:11Z

Riders & Targeted Benefits

Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-26. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.

This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.

Riders

Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.

None identified in the reviewed text

No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.

Earmarks

Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.

None identified in the reviewed text

No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the contents of other versions, disclosures, or accompanying materials.

Other targeted benefits

Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.

None identified in the reviewed text

No materially narrow benefit, preferential exemption, or carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.

What this analysis cannot establish

  • The bundle contains the complete introduced text and a dated actions snapshot, but no later bill versions or evidence of passage or enactment. Missing history does not prove that the bill never advanced or became law.
  • The existing Communications Act provisions being amended are not reproduced. Their broader operation and the full effects of deleting NPR references cannot be determined from this bundle.
  • The introduced text specifies no express exceptions, expiration date, dedicated enforcement mechanism, or transition rules beyond applying the prohibition after enactment. It does not define “indirectly” or “successor organization.”

Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Dec 5, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI