The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has opened an investigation into NPR and PBS over the public broadcasters’ airing of commercials.
Brendan Carr, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, sent a letter to NPR chief Katherine Maher and PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger informing them of the probe, according to The New York Times.
“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” Carr wrote. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”
Public broadcasters are prohibited by law from presenting traditional commercials. Instead, they air corporate underwriting spots that can’t instruct audiences to purchase a product or service.

“It is important to me, as Chairman of the FCC, that noncommercial educational broadcast stations stay true to their important missions and refrain from operating as noncommercial in name only,” Carr said.
Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said in a statement that their programming and underwriting messaging are compliant with federal regulations: “We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” she said.
PBS also said it was proud of its “noncommercial educational programming” and worked “diligently to comply with the F.C.C.’s underwriting regulations.”
The investigations fall in line with the president’s crusade against public media, especially NPR. Last April, Trump said in a Truth Social post that there would be “NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!”
“THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!” he wrote.
Carr also penned the chapter on FCC in Project 2025, a conservative policy roadmap that Trump has publicly disavowed, while still implementing a number of the policies on the group’s wishlist.
The chapter states that the FCC must “change course” and focus on “reining in big tech, promoting national security, unleashing economic prosperity, and ensuring FCC accountability and good governance.”
Proposals included requiring tech companies to contribute to the FCC’s Universal Service Fund that subsidizes internet and connectivity programs, addressing TikTok’s threats to national security, and supporting new space technology like Elon Musk’s Starlink.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez blasted Carr’s move as “yet another Administration effort to weaponize the power of the FCC. The FCC has no business intimidating and silencing broadcast media.”