Subcommittee of Musk’s DOGE calls heads of PBS and NPR to testify over ‘systemically biased content’
Katherine Maher (left) and Paula Kerger
A subcommittee working in tandem with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has called the CEOs of two US media organisations, PBS and National Public Radio (NPR), to testify over what it calls “systemically biased content.”
The subcommittee, led by chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, on Monday sent letters to PBS’s Paula Kerger and NPR’s Katherine Maher saying it wanted to “better understand [their] position[s] on providing Americans with accurate information.”
DOGE, led by Musk and officially formed last month at the executive order of US president Donald Trump, has a mandate to “maximise governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Taylor Greene’s letter to PBS said the subcommittee is “concerned” by its “blatantly ideological and partisan coverage.”
It criticised PBS for implying in its coverage that Musk had made a Nazi salute during an event following Trump’s inauguration, calling the characterisation “clearly false.”
The letter also cited a quote from the Anti-Defamation League, a group focused on combating antisemitism, stating that it thought Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.”
“This sort of bias betrays the principles of objective reporting and undermines public trust,” said Greene. “As an organisation that receives federal funds through its member stations, PBS should provide reporting that serves the entire public, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups.”
The hearings are slated to take place next month, with Taylor Greene describing them as an opportunity for the organisations to “explain to Congress and the American people why federal funds should be used for public television – particularly the sort of content produced by [PBS and NPR].”
This comes as the Trump administration puts all government funding under scrutiny, including attempts to temporarily freeze almost all federal funding, which have so far been unsuccessful.
PBS, which is a non-profit organisation, is funded through a combination of government funds, money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, private donations and dues from its member stations.
