WITF faces funding cuts after Senate GOP approves rescission package Thursday morning

• By Jaxon White / LNP | LancasterOnline

Republicans in the U.S. Senate early Thursday morning voted to allow President Donald Trump to claw back $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds that Congress had previously approved.

Among those cuts is $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

WITF, central Pennsylvania’s NPR and PBS affiliate, stands to lose about $1.3 million — 8% of its annual budget — if House Republicans, as expected, approve the legislation by week’s end.

If the House does not approve the rescission package by midnight Friday, the funding will remain intact.

Ron Hetrick, chief executive of WITF, said the Senate’s decision was “disappointing.”

“These funds support vital services — educational programming, local journalism and public safety — in regions like Central Pennsylvania,” Hetrick said.

WITF and LNP | LancasterOnline are under the same parent company, Pennon.

Hetrick did not specify what the funding cut could mean for the joint newsrooms that collectively serve 19 counties in Pennsylvania.

“In these moments of uncertainty, we remain unwavering in our mission to ensure our organization continues to serve as a trusted source of information and connection for our community,” Hetrick said.

The 51-48 Senate vote came after more than 12 hours of debate on the floor, in which Republicans shot down an effort from Democrats to preserve the public broadcasting funds.

Congress has been under heavy pressure to pass the rescission package from Trump, who has long argued that NPR and PBS are biased in their reporting against him.

The effort is also part of a broader push by Trump to expand the limits of the executive branch’s authority over federal spending.

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman criticized the rescission package in a statement Wednesday before the vote, warning that cutting the public broadcasting funds would harm education opportunities for children.

“Mr. Rogers, a Pittsburgh icon, taught us kindness and empathy,” Fetterman said. “My wife, Gisele, learned English watching PBS, where Big Bird and Elmo have educated generations of American kids. NPR’s ‘Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!’ has kept millions of families entertained on road trips across the country.”

Fetterman stressed that smaller stations in more rural areas of the country rely on the federal funding to “inform the public on essential news and emergency alerts. Republicans’ decision to eliminate this funding undermines the very values of family and education they claim to champion.”

Pennsylvania’s Republican Sen. Dave McCormick voted in favor of the rescission package.

McCormick did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, Pennon laid off 10% of its employees, an effort that newsroom leaders said was an internal restructuring to make the company more efficient. Journalists at WITF and LNP | LancasterOnline later voted to unionize with the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, Local 38010. They are in the process of bargaining a contract with the company.