SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
");background-position:center;background-size:19px 19px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-color:var(--button-bg-color);padding:0;width:var(--form-elem-height);height:var(--form-elem-height);font-size:0;}:is(.js-newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter_bar.newsletter-wrapper) .widget__body:has(.response:not(:empty)) :is(.widget__headline, .widget__subheadline, #mc_embed_signup .mc-field-group, #mc_embed_signup input[type="submit"]){display:none;}:is(.grey_newsblock .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper) #mce-responses:has(.response:not(:empty)){grid-row:1 / -1;grid-column:1 / -1;}.newsletter-wrapper .widget__body > .snark-line:has(.response:not(:empty)){grid-column:1 / -1;}:is(.grey_newsblock .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper) :is(.newsletter-campaign:has(.response:not(:empty)), .newsletter-and-social:has(.response:not(:empty))){width:100%;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:center;align-items:center;gap:8px 20px;margin:0 auto;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col .text-element{display:flex;color:var(--shares-color);margin:0 !important;font-weight:400 !important;font-size:16px !important;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col .whitebar_social{display:flex;gap:12px;width:auto;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col a{margin:0;background-color:#0000;padding:0;width:32px;height:32px;}.newsletter-wrapper .social_icon:after{display:none;}.newsletter-wrapper .widget article:before, .newsletter-wrapper .widget article:after{display:none;}#sFollow_Block_0_0_2_0_0_0_1{margin:0;}#sSHARED_-_Social_Desktop_0_0_11_0_0_1.row-wrapper{margin:40px auto;}#sBoost_post_0_0_0_0_0_0_1_0{background-color:#000;color:#fff;}.boost-post{--article-direction:column;--min-height:none;--height:auto;--padding:24px;--titles-width:calc(100% - 84px);--image-fit:cover;--image-pos:right;--photo-caption-size:12px;--photo-caption-space:20px;--headline-size:23px;--headline-space:18px;--subheadline-size:13px;--text-size:12px;--oswald-font:"Oswald", Impact, "Franklin Gothic Bold", sans-serif;--cta-position:center;overflow:hidden;margin-bottom:0;--lora-font:"Lora", sans-serif !important;}.boost-post:not(:empty):has(.boost-post-article:not(:empty)){min-height:var(--min-height);}.boost-post *{box-sizing:border-box;float:none;}.boost-post .posts-custom .posts-wrapper:after{display:none !important;}.boost-post article:before, .boost-post article:after{display:none !important;}.boost-post article .row:before, .boost-post article .row:after{display:none !important;}.boost-post article .row .col:before, .boost-post article .row .col:after{display:none !important;}.boost-post .widget__body:before, .boost-post .widget__body:after{display:none !important;}.boost-post .photo-caption:after{content:"";width:100%;height:1px;background-color:#fff;}.boost-post .body:before, .boost-post .body:after{display:none !important;}.boost-post .body :before, .boost-post .body :after{display:none !important;}.boost-post__bottom{--article-direction:row;--titles-width:350px;--min-height:346px;--height:315px;--padding:24px 86px 24px 24px;--image-fit:contain;--image-pos:right;--headline-size:36px;--subheadline-size:15px;--text-size:12px;--cta-position:left;}.boost-post__sidebar:not(:empty):has(.boost-post-article:not(:empty)){margin-bottom:10px;}.boost-post__in-content:not(:empty):has(.boost-post-article:not(:empty)){margin-bottom:40px;}.boost-post__bottom:not(:empty):has(.boost-post-article:not(:empty)){margin-bottom:20px;}@media (min-width: 1024px){#sSHARED_-_Social_Desktop_0_0_11_0_0_1_1{padding-left:40px;}}.donation_banner{position:relative;background:#000;}.donation_banner .posts-custom *, .donation_banner .posts-custom :after, .donation_banner .posts-custom :before{margin:0;}.donation_banner .posts-custom .widget{position:absolute;inset:0;}.donation_banner__wrapper{position:relative;z-index:2;pointer-events:none;}.donation_banner .donate_btn{position:relative;z-index:2;}#sSHARED_-_Support_Block_0_0_14_0_0_3_1_0{color:#fff;}#sSHARED_-_Support_Block_0_0_14_0_0_3_1_1{font-weight:normal;}#sElement_Post_Layout_Press_Release__0_0_1_0_0_11{margin:100px 0;}.grey_newsblock .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper.sidebar{background:linear-gradient(91deg, #005dc7 28%, #1d63b2 65%, #0353ae 85%);}.black_newsletter{background:linear-gradient(91deg, #005dc7 28%, #1d63b2 65%, #0353ae 85%);}.black_newsletter .newsletter_bar.newsletter-wrapper{background:none;}
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
More than 50 progressive organizations sent a strong message of united resistance to the Trump administration on the same day his cabinet hearings begin on Capitol Hill. In a video and public pledge, movement leaders including NAACP President Cornell Brooks, Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard, and SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry pledged to defend everything they say that Trump most urgently threatens including civil rights, immigrants, women's reproductive rights, social equality, action on climate change, public health and safety, public dissent, and access to information.
https://www.unstoppabletogether.org/
As part of the United Resistance campaign, groups pledge to work together across issues, unify respective networks, and function in a multilateral fashion that provides a better future for America than Trump is offering. The campaign is launching the same week as the involved organizations are leading various initiatives to block Trump's cabinet appointees including Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson and Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions.
More than 50 organizations have signed onto the pledge and several are featured in the video.
Advancement Project (National)
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Brave New Films
Center for Biological Diversity
Climate Justice Alliance
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Color Of Change
Common Cause
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Daily Kos
Democracy Initiative
Demos
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Every Voice
Food & Water Action Fund
Forward Together
Free Press
Friends of the Earth
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Green For All
Greenpeace, Inc
Indigenous Environmental Network
Jewish Voice for Peace
Jobs With Justice
Labor Network for Sustainability
MoveOn.org
NAACP
NARAL
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Network for Arab American Communities
Oakland Institute
Oil Change International
OneAmerica
One Billion Rising
Our Revolution
People's Action
People For the American Way
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Public Citizen
Rainforest Action Network
Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United
RootsAction.org
Sierra Club
The Story of Stuff Project
United We Dream
Working Families Party
World Beyond War
V-Day
350.org
https://www.unstoppabletogether.org/
Quotes From Participating Organizations:
"Trump is not on the side of the American people. After promises of "draining the swamp, his cabinet is now full of more billionaire lobbyists and executives than any administration in history. This President will never know what it feels like to worry about the water his family is drinking, to wonder if his house will survive the next superstorm, or if his child will face hateful bullying at school. It is up to each one of us to protect each other, to fight for each other, and to resist the ways in which Donald Trump threatens America," said Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard.
"The American people elected Hillary Clinton president by a nearly three-million vote margin. The 48 Democrats in the new Senate received over 78 million votes combined, compared to the 55 million earned by the 52 Republicans. The American people have clearly rejected the GOP's values of hate, intolerance, greed and bigotry, and we are proud to stand with the American majority in fighting for inclusion, tolerance, compassion and hope."
- Markos Moulitsas, Founder and Publisher of Daily Kos
"Our movement to advance the fundamental values of justice and democracy, for the empowerment of immigrant and refugee communities, for Muslims and other religious minorities in the United States is ready to protect our families, to assert our presence, and to challenge our nation to live up to its values as a nation built by immigration. I'm heartened by the energy to resist in our own communities, and by the broad coalition of movements coming together to stand and defend each other, whatever the Trump Administration throws at us. At stake is a vision for our nation and world grounded in racial and social justice, committed to improving the lives of every American, and realizing a healthy and diverse future where everyone can thrive. We stand with our sisters and brothers in the intersections of racial, economic and climate justice."
- Rich Stolz | Executive Director | OneAmerica
"Solidarity forever must include solidarity now -- intensive, sustained and determined to defend past gains as well as make future ones possible. Everything that we hold dear is at stake." -Norman Solomon, Coordinator, RootsAction.org
"Green For All stands against Trump's effort to auction off our air, water, and climate to the highest bidder. We resist efforts to prioritize profit over human life and stand with frontline communities, those in small towns and urban areas who face the brunt of pollution, to fight for climate solutions that put them first. We will fight alongside the underdogs, those most ignored, to ensure that their voices are heard because we all deserve clean air, clean water and a healthy environment to raise our kids."
-Vien Truong, Director of Green For All
"The corporate cartel that works to wage wars, pollute the planet, concentrate the wealth, and restrict the rights of dissenters finds a way to all work together. Those of us seeking a better world -- a sustainable world at all -- must work together to resist the path the U.S. government is on and to project and push forward a better one. Our collective numbers give us power, and our interlocking issues give us a persuasive alternative. Shifting military spending to human and environmental needs makes a world beyond our dreams perfectly achievable."
- David Swanson, Director of World Beyond War
"The Sierra Club's mission is to protect both the natural and the human environment. That is why we stand in solidarity with organizations fighting for a fair and safe America that protects everyone. We stand with workers and working families, for women's rights and LGBTQ rights, with people of all faiths and backgrounds, for public health and economic fairness, and on the side of racial justice and immigrant families. To change everything it takes everyone, and that's exactly why we're going to stand up together over the next four years and fight to protect the people and places that we love.
- Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director
"Democracy is strengthened by welcoming people of all backgrounds and views in building a country that recognizes the self-worth of every individual and every voice," said David Donnelly, President and CEO of Every Voice. "Unfortunately, Donald Trump has repeatedly shown that he has no interest in doing what's necessary to expand and protect our democracy--and in fact, in policy and words, he has done the opposite. We are committed to fighting everyday, united with allied organizations and millions of Americans, for a political system that works for all of us and we fill fiercely defend the rights of our fellow citizens to be heard, respected, and counted."
"Trump's presidency represents an existential threat to an open internet and an adversarial press," said Free Press CEO and President Craig Aaron. "Based on its appointments and actions so far, the Trump administration appears committed to undermining everyone's rights to connect and communicate. We're dedicated to fighting Trump's agenda on media and technology while supporting the resistance efforts of groups doing important work elsewhere. Trump has named numerous people to his administration and transition team with long histories of support for dangerous and often racist policies and actions. Many others have openly campaigned to gut essential public safeguards in every area from worker safety to the environment to telecommunications. All must be resisted from day one."
"The Trump administration promises to roll back our environmental laws, gut civil rights protections, and enrich the pockets of Wall Street at the expense of everyone else," says Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Action Fund. "We can't let this happen--and together, we can resist the worst effects of his presidency. We'll keep the pressure on our elected officials to represent the majority of Americans that want safe food, clean water, a stable climate, and a democracy that works for all of us."
"As the chief law enforcement officer, the attorney generally has far-reaching decision making power over issues that impact every person in the U.S." said Kalpana Krishnamurthy, Policy Director at Forward Together, a national advocacy organization. "If appointed, he will be the final decision maker on if the FBI can profile Muslim members of our community, whether or not to sanction stop and frisk policies, oversight of our prisons, the Department of Justice and drug enforcement. He has a track record of disregarding civil rights, denying racism, and promoting a radical agenda that would undo many of the laws that have given voice to communities of color historically shut out of our democracy. His values don't reflect an America where all people can thrive and we are united in opposition to his nomination."
"The blueprint for failure is division and ambivalence in the wake of a united conservative agenda that is intentionally undermining our democracy and threatening our communities," said Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project's national office. "Our power to resist and reclaim our democracy is rooted in our shared commitment to dismantling interwoven systems of oppression. We are putting the new administration on notice: every day of the next four years, be prepared to confront powerful organized communities who refuse to be silenced."
"At Rainforest Action Network, we stand for people and planet. But today, we need to stand firmly in opposition to a systemic assault on our values from the incoming administration. We are pledging to oppose those who would deny science and deny climate change. We are pledging to oppose those who would gut environmental protections in the name of corporate profits. We are pledging to stand for civil rights, to stand for human and labor rights, and to stand with those directly impacted by global forest destruction and climate change." - Lindsey Allen, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network
"We have witnessed one of the most contentious and emotional political races in our country's history. What we have learned is that, now, more than ever, we need to come together to uphold our shared values of freedom and equality for all. Arab and Muslim Americans have long dealt with xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism and bigotry. Throughout the presidential election, we were faced with many unprecedented obstacles, and yet we persevered and remained committed to improving and empowering our communities. We know we must maintain our spirit of advocacy and become stronger leaders for a more hopeful future." - Nadia El-Zein Tonova, Director of the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
"America is great when it becomes more inclusive, more democratic and more just. The Trump administration threatens these values, and democracy itself. Against this threat, We the People will protect our democracy and the values we most cherish by exercising our democratic rights. We will stand together to reject efforts to denigrate, injure or exclude Muslim Americans, immigrants or any other targeted community. We will reject Trumpism and assert the central importance of love and solidarity, kindness and decency to who we are a country and a people." - Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
Dan Cantor, National Director, Working Families Party: "Donald Trump is a dangerous narcissist. We need to block his agenda of greed and division, and and we need to stand together to do it. That's the only hope for building a nation that works for all of us."
"Trump's presidency threatens immigrants, African Americans, Muslims, workers, women, children, the elderly, the disabled, LGBTQ people, and many others. Indeed, it threatens all that holds us together as a society. We the people - society -- need to defend ourselves against this threat and bring it to an end. Resisters to repressive regimes elsewhere have called such resistance to tyranny "Social Self-Defense." The struggle to protect our people and planet against the Trump agenda requires such a strategy. Therefore we are proud to join the United Resistance Campaign as a form of Social Self Defense." -Michael Leon Guerrero, Labor Network for Sustainability
"If Trump thinks this wave of opposition and resistance will burn out quickly and die, he's dead wrong," said Kieran Suckling, Executive Director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "We'll be there every day, every week and every year to oppose every policy that hurts wildlife; poisons our air or water; destroys the climate; promotes racism, misogyny or homophobia; and marginalizes entire segments of our society."
"We live in a global world where our lives are intertwined. An act of hate against one is an act of hate against all. So we stand here united with all voices of peace, tolerance, racial equity, and justice. We gain our unity from the diversity of our religions, of our sexual preferences, women's rights, and of our racial diversity. We allege to speak for all who are voiceless, marginalized, and criminalized. We are one force, united together for the betterment of humanity." -Anuradha Mittal, Oakland Institute Executive Director
"It's time to get back to the basics: everyday people with a plan, through everyday acts of courage, will eventually make history." - Ai-jen Poo, Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
+31 20 718 2000"The Delaware lawmakers that enacted S.B. 21 are lapdogs for corporations and Musk," said one expert at the Open Markets Institute.
While Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer declared that "Delaware is the best place in the world to incorporate your business, and Senate Bill 21 will help keep it that way," critics reiterated concerns about the corporate-friendly state legislation he signed this week.
The Delaware House of Representatives sent the Senate-approved S.B. 21 to Meyer's desk on Tuesday in a 32-7 vote, with two members absent. The Delaware Business Timesreported that the governor "arrived in Dover to sign the measure into law less than two hours after it passed," and "the bill signing was closed to the press."
The bill sailed through the Delaware General Assembly despite anti-monopoly, economic, and legal experts blasting it as a "corporate insider power grab" and accusing state legislators of choosing "billionaire insiders—like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg—over pension funds, retirement savers, and other investors."
Delaware Working Families Party (WFP) political director Karl Stomberg said in a Wednesday statement that "at a time when rank-and-file Democrats across the country are begging their leaders to stand up to" President Donald Trump and Musk, his billionaire adviser, Democratic lawmakers in the state "just gave Musk a $56 billion handout."
That's a reference to Musk's 2018 compensation package for his electric vehicle maker, Tesla, which a Delaware judge ruled against, prompting the richest billionaire on Earth to ditch the state and encourage other business leaders to do the same. Fears of a potential "Dexit" led to lawmakers' frantic effort to pass S.B. 21.
"The Working Families Party has been standing up against this proposed bill for weeks now, and we recognize the need to fight back against corporate overreach in our government," said Stomberg. "WFP electeds proposed serious amendments to address our concerns with the bill that would protect the people of Delaware, but the Democrats chose to side with Musk and vote them down."
"This bill is an indictment of the failed Delaware Way, which continues to allow big corporations and the ultrawealthy like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to enrich themselves at the expense of working people," added Stomberg.
Zuckerberg is the CEO of Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company. CNBC recently revealed that "a day after The Wall Street Journal published its story on Meta considering a Delaware departure, Meyer, who was brand new to the job, convened an online meeting with attorneys from law firms that have represented Meta, Musk, Tesla, and others in shareholder disputes in the state, according to public records obtained by CNBC. Other attendees included members of the Delaware Legislature."
"The following day, records show, Meyer invited a second group to meet with him and new Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez. That invitation went to Kate Kelly, Meta's corporate secretary, and to Dan Sachs, the company's senior national director of state and local policy," according to CNBC. "The invite also went to James Honaker, an attorney with Morris Nichols, a firm that's represented Meta in federal court in Delaware, and to William Chandler, former chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, who is now part of Wilson Sonsini's Delaware litigation practice."
Just weeks after those meetings, the governor urged state lawmakers to swiftly pass S.B. 21. The Lever's Luke Goldstein wrote Wednesday that "the timing of the emails obtained by CNBC reveals clear motivations driving the current law which was rushed before the Legislature last month by the new governor: to let top executives off the hook for legal liabilities."
In earlier reporting, Goldstein highlighted that "Delaware, which has long been perceived as a billionaire playground and corporate tax haven, is the incorporation home to more than 60% of all Fortune 500 companies. That means, if enacted, the wide-ranging regulatory handouts in the bill will have sweeping consequences for corporate behavior across the country."
The Lever's founder, David Sirota, on Wednesday lamented the limited attention the Delaware law is receiving, compared with a major national security breach involving several top Trump officials' unsecure group chat about war plans. As he put it, "Cannot overstate how significant this is—while the national media is focused on the D.C. drama, a group of Democrats off the radar in a tiny state just radically shifted more power to the planet's largest corporations via world-changing legislation."
Daniel Hanley, senior legal analyst at the Open Markets Institute, said Wednesday that "the Delaware lawmakers that enacted S.B. 21 are lapdogs for corporations and Musk. How this one state came to control practically all of American corporate law is a long story, but regardless, Congress can and should take the power away."
"These are not people who want to make America healthy," said one advocate for people with disabilities. "They want to make the sick disappear."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services canceled more than $12 billion in federal funding for state health departments across the nation, money that is used to track infectious diseases and provide mental health services, addiction treatment, and other critical care.
NBC Newsreported Wednesday that $11.4 billion of the canceled grants were earmarked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for state and community health departments, nongovernmental organizations, and international recipients following the Covid-19 pandemic. Around $1 billion worth of grants are being pulled from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"The Covid-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. "HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President [Donald] Trump's mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again."
This is just stunning. HHS has abruptly canceled more than $12 billion in federal grants to states that were being used for tracking infectious diseases, mental health services, addiction treatment and other urgent health issues.
[image or embed]
— Charles Ornstein ( @charlesornstein.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
However, experts point to the certainty of future pandemics—like an avian flu strain that mutates to pass between humans—in urging public health policy planners to maintain or even increase preparedness and response funding.
NBC News reported that the 13 agencies overseen by HHS were sent notices starting Monday, which informed them that they have 30 days to reconcile their expenditures.
For some state and community healthcare providers, the effects of the cuts were immediate.
There was an abrupt $11B cut to local/state public health (PH) infrastructure yesterday. I don't think people realize what this means: -Want an updated system to check your immunizations instead of digging through docs? PH no longer able to carry out upgrades to immunization information systems
— Katelyn Jetelina ( @kkjetelina.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 11:34 AM
As The New York Timesreported:
In Lubbock, Texas, public health officials have received orders to stop work supported by three grants that helped fund the response to the widening measles outbreak there, according to Katherine Wells, the city's director of public health.
On Tuesday, some state health departments were preparing to lay off dozens of epidemiologists and data scientists. Others, including Texas, Maine, and Rhode Island, were still scrambling to understand the impact of the cuts before taking any action.
In interviews, state health officials predicted that thousands of health department employees and contract workers could lose their jobs nationwide. Some predicted the loss of as much as 90% of staff from some infectious disease teams.
"We learned yesterday that the federal government has unilaterally terminated approximately $226 million in grants to Minnesota Department of Health related to the Covid-19 pandemic," Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham said in a statement. "This termination is effective immediately and impacts ongoing work and contracts. This action was sudden and unexpected."
Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, toldCBS News that much of the funding would have expired soon anyway.
"It's ending in the next six months," she said. "There's no reason—why rescind it now? It's just cruel and unusual behavior."
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment communications director Kristina Iodice toldNBC News, "We are concerned that this sudden loss of federal funding threatens Colorado's ability to track Covid-19 trends and other emerging diseases, modernize disease data systems, respond to outbreaks, and provide critical immunization access, outreach, and education—leaving communities more vulnerable to future public health crises."
The first Trump administration was widely criticized for shortcomings in these fields. A congressional panel issued a 2022 report accusing top administration officials of "failed stewardship" and a "persistent pattern of political interference" that undermined the nation's response to Covid-19, which to date has killed more than 1.2 million people in the United States and is still claiming hundreds of lives each week, according to CDC figures.
Wednesday's reportingd came as HHS, CDC, and other critical agencies braced for more cuts and layoffs ordered by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his aides are also "nearing their final decisions on a sweeping restructuring of the department," CBS Newsreported last week.
Last month, Senate Democrats demanded answers from Kennedy regarding the purge of more than 5,000 HHS workers after the agency "blindly followed" a "baseless directive" by Trump and DOGE that the lawmakers said is "blatantly undermining Americans' health and safety."
As Common Dreamsreported Wednesday, public health experts have also condemned the administration's decision to terminate funding for Gavi, the global vaccine alliance—a move critics warned could result in the deaths of over 1 million children in the Global South.
"Investing in Gavi brings other benefits for our world and the American people," the alliance said. "Here's why: By maintaining global stockpiles of vaccines against deadly diseases like Ebola, mpox, and yellow fever, we help keep America safe. These diseases do not respect borders, they can cross continents in hours and cost billions of dollars."
"Elon Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene are trying to defund Sesame Street and dismantle PBS and NPR," said one Democratic congressman. "Not on our watch. Fire Elon Musk, and save Elmo."
Progressives roundly ridiculed U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday after the serial conspiracy theorist made baseless claims that National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service are "radical left-wing echo chambers" with a "communist agenda" and called for their defunding.
"Is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party?"
Greene (R-Ga.)—who chairs the House Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency (DOGE, but not part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency)—convened the hearing, titled "Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable," to examine alleged "biased news" and whether American taxpayers "will continue funding these leftist media outlets."
"After listening to what we've heard today, we will be calling for the complete and total defund and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting," the congresswoman told
NPR CEO Katherine Maher and the PBS CEO Paula Kerger during her closing remarks, referring to the nonprofit that helps fund PBS and NPR.
"Here's how it works: In America, every single day—every single day—private businesses operate on their own, without government funding," she added. "We believe you all can hate us on your own dime."
PBS gets about 16% of its funding from federal sources. For NPR, the figure is around just 1%.
Greene—who has amplified conspiracy theories including QAnon, Pizzagate, the 9/11 "hoax," government involvement in mass shootings, "Jewish space lasers" causing wildfires, the U.S. government controlling the weather, and the "stolen" 2020 presidential election—made more blatantly false claims during Wednesday's hearing, including that PBS used "taxpayer funds to push some of the most radical left positions like featuring a drag queen" on one of its children's programs. This never happened.
Nevertheless, Greene used props including a blown-up photo of drag queen Lil' Miss Hot Mess, a children's book author and Drag Queen Story Hour board member, whom the congresswoman called a "monster," while baselessly accusing Maher and Kerger of "grooming and sexualizing" children.
Another Republican member of the panel, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky, appeared to not understand the difference between an editorial—an opinion article—and the the work and standards of media editors:
oh my god -- Comer thinks "editorial standards" literally refers to standards for editorials and is corrected by the NPR head
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar ( @atrupar.com) March 26, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Democrats on the DOGE subcommittee pushed back against the attacks by Greene and other Republicans on the panel. Mocking Greene's assertion that PBS and NPR have a "communist agenda" and referring to one of the most beloved characters on the long-running children's show Sesame Street, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) asked Kerger a McCarthyesque question: "Is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party? A yes or no."
Kerger answered "no," prompting Garcia to retort: "Now, are you sure, Ms. Kerger? Because he's obviously red... He also has a very dangerous message about sharing. And helping each other; he's indoctrinating our kids that sharing is caring. Now maybe he's part of a major socialist plot and maybe that's why the chairwoman is having this hearing today."
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) responded to a false assertion by hearing guest Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation—the main force behind Project 2025, the plan for a far-right overhaul of the federal government that includes defunding public broadcasters—as well Musk's glaring conflicts of interest by referring to a popular porcine protagonist of Muppets fame.
"To your knowledge, has Miss Piggy ever been caught trying to funnel billions of dollars in government contracts to herself and to her companies?" Casar said.
At the end of his remarks, the progressive lawmaker implored Greene to "leave Elmo alone" and instead bring in Musk, the de facto head of the other DOGE, for questioning. Musk, the world's richest person, and President Donald Trump support defunding public broadcasters.
In typically fiery fashion, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) told Greene and Republicans that "free speech is not about what y'all want somebody to say, and the idea that you want to shut down everybody that is not Fox News is bullshit!"
Tim Karr, the senior director of strategy and communications at the media reform group Free Press, told Common Dreams after the hearing that Greene's "bogus attack against public media is a blatant attempt to further weaken the sort of journalism that questions the corruption and cruelty of the Trump administration."
"This is not about saving taxpayer dollars or based on any genuine concern about whether there's too much bias on public media. It's a blatant attempt to undermine independent, rigorous reporting on the Trump administration," Karr argued.
"Greene may not like public media—and that's no surprise given that she's no fan of journalism that holds public officials and billionaires accountable," he continued. "But she and her Republican colleagues are far out of step with the American people and their needs. Communities all across the country rely on their local public radio and TV stations to provide trustworthy news reporting and a diversity of opinions."
"In every survey, the American public indicates it wants more support for public and community media, not less," Karr added. "Unfortunately, President Trump and his cronies in Congress have instead tried to zero out funding for public media. They have repeatedly failed because millions of viewers and listeners oppose them and instead believe that support for public media is taxpayer money well spent."
On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Reporters Without Borders sent a joint letter urging Greene's committee "to approach its examination of public broadcasting with the understanding that press freedom is not a partisan issue, rather a vital part of American democracy."
The attack on @pbs.org and @npr.org is an attack on journalism. The administration is just going after them first because public funding makes them the low-hanging fruit. We're proud to partner on this letter with CPJ and @rsf.org. cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-...
[image or embed]
— Freedom of the Press Foundation ( @freedom.press) March 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
"The tone and conduct of the proceedings matter," the groups' letter asserts. "The American public deserves access to quality, independent journalism, regardless of geography, income, creed, or political views. Public broadcasting delivers on this vital need by providing high-quality, fact-based reporting to the American public, including underserved communities across the nation."
"Congressional scrutiny of public broadcasting must not undermine the ability of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal," the groups stressed. "Otherwise, a dangerous precedent will be set that could further erode trust in the media and undermine press freedom more broadly."
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union is sharing a petition telling Congress to protect public broadcasting.
"Republican leaders in Congress and the Trump administration are following the Project 2025 playbook and trying to shut down funding for independent public television and radio stations," the petition states. "Many CWA members work at these locally owned stations and play a crucial role in keeping our communities informed. Without public television and radio stations, we will lose access to critical local news and programming."