On July 21, 2025 Congress approved the President’s request to rescind the full federal investment in public broadcasting. President Trump signed the bill on July 24, 2025. This is funding WVTF Music and Radio IQ and hundreds of public radio and TV stations across the country depend on to serve our communities.
This moment is not the end for independent public media. It’s the beginning of an inflection point. Our essential service must survive and thrive so we can continue serving the public interest - your interest.
This loss of federal funding creates a permanent gap in our annual budget of $300,000. To make up for that loss, we need the ongoing support of our listeners. Many of you have been generous, but now we will redouble our efforts to increase the number of givers, as well as encourage those of you who can to increase the amount of your annual gift.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Because you care about community-focused, independent public media — if WVTF/Radio IQ has ever informed you, moved you, or helped you feel connected — this is your moment to act.
We bet our listeners will rise to the occasion to make sure we’re here for the future. Thank you for standing with us today.
Thursday, July 24
For the first time in our history, the federal government will not fund public broadcasting. On July 24th, President Donald Trump signed a bill canceling $535 million a year for local stations across the country. The New York Times called it “a seismic shock” to the public broadcasting system.
WVTF / Radio IQ expected to receive $300,000 a year in federal funding. We cover more than half the state of Virginia, plus parts of surrounding states. Some of the communities we serve have no other source of free journalism and information.
In order to keep the current level of service to your community, we need to find a way to make up the money we can no longer count on from the government. That’s why your gift is especially important right now.
Support Radio IQ/WVTF Music by making a donation to the station. CLICK THIS LINK or
https://secure.virginiapublicmedia.org/
Friday, July 18
The House has passed H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025, by a vote of 216-213.
Click Here to read the full story from NPR.
Thursday, July 17
The Senate passed H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025, by a vote of 51-48. It now moves back to the House for consideration, and another vote this week.
Wednesday, July 16
Debate has begun on the rescissions package, H.R. 4. The Senate will gavel in at 10:00am, and you can follow floor action live via this link. The Senate can debate for up to 10 hours, with time divided equally between the parties, but Majority Leader Thune stated that the vote-a-rama will begin around 1:30pm ET – an indication that not all of the debate time will be used. Senators will take votes on an undetermined number of amendments, with a couple of minutes for a sponsor and an opposing Member to speak about the amendment, and then a 10-minute vote.
Because of the rapidly moving process, it is difficult to predict which amendments Senators may submit and call up amendments. We do expect amendments to be filed on public media funding.
If the Senate amends the package, it will go back to the House, and we expect the House to act on it by July 18.
Tuesday, July 15
The Senate voted on a motion to discharge the bill from the Appropriations Committee and move it to the floor. The vote passed 51-50. Vice President Vance broke the tie.
The Senate then voted on the motion to proceed. The vote passed 51-50. Vice President Vance also broke that tie.
Friday, July 11
The Senate is indicating that there will likely be an initial procedural vote on Tuesday, July 15 on H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025.
Passage of a procedural vote would kick off 10 hours of debate then a series of votes on any amendments. Once they move through amendments, the Senate would hold a final vote on the package.
June 12
House votes to claw back $1.1 billion from public media
The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation Thursday to eliminate the next two years of federal funding for public media outlets.
It did so at the direct request of President Trump, who has accused NPR and PBS of bias against conservative viewpoints as part of his broader attacks on the mainstream media.
The measure passed largely along party lines, 214 to 212, with two key Republican lawmakers switching their votes from "no" to "yes" to push it over the finish line.
Click here for the full story
How you can help:
Visit Protect my Public Media for the latest.
https://protectmypublicmedia.org/