Has the last call come at the federal trough for public broadcasters? It depends on whether Congress acts to take the first steps outlined by DOGE, even though it may amount to baby steps at the moment.
At issue are funds already appropriated by Congress for various agencies and purposes. The US DOGE Service has already identifed billons of dollars in waste and fraud, but the agencies only have limited power to take the funds back. That requires the White House to submit a rescission request to Congress, where simple majorities are all that are necessary to grant the clawbacks.
Top on the list when Congress returns from its Easter recess will be a rescission request of over $9 billion. That’s relative chump change in a budget that runs around $6 trillion, but its more of an opening step. However, that includes over a billion dollars already allocated to…
