Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, told Newsmax that congressionally approved spending reductions for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are now final, even though the votes were close.
Husted told National Report on Friday that he was proud of fellow conservative Republicans for making it happen.
“We go out on the campaign trail. We promised to cut wasteful spending. Well, we cut wasteful spending.”
The House early Friday approved a package of bills to cut more than $1 billion in support funding for public broadcasting and another $8 billion in what supporters described as wasteful spending on foreign aid. That followed Senate approval on Thursday.
Husted said former President Ronald Reagan laid the foundation for what finally happened this week in Washington.
“Republicans have been trying to put an end to public funding for a lot of these programs since Ronald Reagan was president. Finally got it done.”
Russ Vought, the director of the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget, said the successful passage of the spending cuts shows “enthusiasm” for getting the nation’s fiscal situation under control.
Legislation detractors complained that people in rural areas would not have access to news and information without public broadcasting sources, and even miss weather alerts. Husted said that’s nonsense.
“Our weather alerts are not done through NPR (National Public Radio), they're done through the National Weather Service. And we have many venues, whether it's your cell phone, the internet, a variety of radio and TV stations.”
Public broadcasting, he said, just isn’t needed.
“It's a relic of the past. And it's time that we restore priority for the things that matter today, (and) not continuing to spend money on things that are outdated and no longer needed.”
The package of spending cuts now moves to the White House for the expected approval signature from President Donald Trump.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.