CONGRESS WATCH: Senate votes against Hirono proposal to protect emergency broadcasters

A Hawai‘i senator tried and failed to salvage funding for emergency broadcasters from a round of public broadcasting cuts.

The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday 51-50 to advance the Rescissions Act of 2025, which slashes $9.4 billion in funds to various agencies including the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Those cuts permanently rescind funds made available to the CPB for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years, about $1.1 billion in total.

The rescission request from President Donald Trump's administration justified the cuts because the funds “would be used to subsidize a public media system that is politically biased and an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer.”

Trump issued an executive order in May specifically demanding that CPB cease funding National Public Radio, or NPR, and the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, which are funded partially through CPB grants.

But Senator Mazie Hirono raised concerns about the proposal’s impact to emergency broadcast stations in rural communities.

“Public broadcasters are essential to rural communities, often serving as the only emergency alert system when disasters or emergencies occur,” Hirono said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “These alerts can mean the difference between life or death.”

Hirono offered a motion to recommit the bill Wednesday, recommending that any public broadcasting station that participates in the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Alert System be exempt from funding cuts caused by the Rescissions Act.

As of 2023, more than 25,000 radio and television broadcasters participate in the EAS nationwide, according to an FCC report.

“As natural disasters increase in frequency across our country, this motion will help protect our communities and ensure they can get timely, life-saving information when disaster strikes,” Hirono said.

However, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, had previously testified to the Senate that emergency broadcasting services will be safe from the cuts.

The Senate ultimately voted to reject Hirono’s motion, which failed 48-51. Two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Maine, broke with their party to vote in support of Hirono’s motion.

The Senate has not made a final vote regarding the bill. If they vote in favor of it, the bill returns to the House for further discussion. Congress must pass the bill by midnight Friday to meet or else the funds rescinded in the bill must be released to their respective departments.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.