WATCH: Vought pressed on rescission possibly cutting off access to emergency info for some

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. asked Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, what he’d say to communities that may no longer have access to emergency information, like wildfire alerts, due to the spending cuts the Trump administration is requesting that targets public media.

Vought said there would be “ample time” for public broadcasters to adjust should they lose federal funds to support their operations.

“Our view is that they should be more judicious with where they are paying for content and that is no longer a need,” he said.

Vought also said that President Donald Trump’s rescission request is for funding set aside for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

“We have not created a cliff,” he said. “We have given them an opportunity to work through these things and allow them to plan accordingly so that they can continue to serve the communities that you represent and that they serve,” he added.

If the Senate approves the rescissions package, which the House approved in June, it would mean roughly $9.4 billion in spending cuts that targets federal funding for public broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS, as well as international aid programs, such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, among other programs.

The Trump administration, led by the Department of Government Efficiency’s broad efforts to slash government spending, has described the public media system as biased and unnecessary and said the targeted programs in the rescission request promote liberal ideologies or are a waste of taxpayers’ money.

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