NPR CEO warns staff ‘tremendous amount of change’ coming if federal funding yanked

NPR CEO warns staff ‘tremendous amount of change’ coming if federal funding yanked

The CEO of NPR, Katherine Maher, reportedly told NPR staffers in a meeting on Thursday that the outlet would go through significant changes if they lose federal funding. 

Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar clawback package early Thursday morning. The $9 billion rescissions bill teed up cuts to “woke” spending on foreign aid programs and NPR and PBS that Congress previously approved, as Republicans seek to yank federal money from the public news outlets.

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik posted on X that Maher and the NPR corporate team were addressing staffers on Thursday, and that while he wasn’t present at the off-the-record meeting, staffers present were notifying him of key portions.

NPR is facing efforts by President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers to shut down its federal funding. 

“We are going to go through a tremendous amount of change,” Maher said, according to NPR’s media correspondent. 

President and CEO of National Public Radio Katherine Maher testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on March 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

NPR HEARING PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON FUNDING DEBATE AND PAST COVERAGE, FROM HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP TO COVID ORIGINS

The CEO also told staffers that they would “continue pushing” until the end of the process.

“We are taking this one all the way to the end,” Maher said, according to Folkenfilk.

Maher challenged critics on Wednesday during a CNN interview to show her a story that proves the outlet is biased. 

“It doesn‘t help anyone to take this funding away,” Maher said. “As far as the accusations that we‘re biased, I would stand up and say, ‘Please show me a story that concerns you,’ because we want to know, and we want to bring that conversation back to our newsroom.” 

NYT DRAWS PARALLELS BETWEEN CALLS TO DEFUND NPR AND DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and conservative commentators reacted to the post with examples. 

Kennedy posted a thread featuring videos of himself on the Senate floor providing examples of NPR’s political bias.

In this photo illustration, the National Public Radio (NPR) logo is seen on a smartphone and on a PC screen.  (Getty Images)

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“NPR reported that country music and birds are racist, told American people to stop eating beef, and promoted the Russia-gate conspiracy. No person with a brain above a single-celled organism would call these articles fair and balanced,” one tweet said.

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NPR’s legislative affairs executive also warned during the meeting, according to NPR’s media correspondent, that there would be “a lot of instability” if Congress does strip federal funds.

Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.

Caitlin Clark decides to forgo WNBA All-Star festivities after suffering injury

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said on Thursday she will not participate in the WNBA All-Star Game and the festivities around it after she appeared to re-aggravate a groin injury.

Clark announced the decision in a statement through the team.

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Jul 16, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts from the bench during the first half against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center. (John Jones-Imagn Images)

“I’m so excited for Indy to host WNBA All-Star this weekend. I want to thank the Indianapolis Host Committee and all of the people that have put endless work in over the past year to put this event together,” she said. “I know this will be the best All-Star yet.

“I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate in the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game. I have to rest my body. I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and I’m looking forward to helping Sandy (Brondello) coach our team to a win.

“Can’t wait to see you all out there.”

FEVER COACH SAYS CAITLIN CLARK’S ALL-STAR GAME APPEARANCE UP IN THE AIR AS TEAM FOCUSES ON ‘LONG-TERM’ HEALTH

Jul 15, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts with a possible injury after a play against the Connecticut Sun in the second half at TD Garden. (David Butler II-Imagn Images)

Clark suffered the injury in the waning moments of the Fever’s win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night. She appeared to tweak her upper leg on a bounce pass to Kelsey Mitchell.

Injuries have been the main storyline for Clark this season. She’s missed nearly a dozen games because of injuries but still managed to lead fan voting for the All-Star Game.

It’s unclear how long Clark will be out for.

Indiana is 12-11 following Wednesday night’s loss to the New York Liberty.

Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark (22) gestures to the crowd during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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The team will return to action on July 22 – back on the road against New York.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: DNC boss says Mamdani’s hateful phrase welcome in ‘big tent’

Fox News’ “Antisemitism Exposed” newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world.

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:

– Democrats’ ‘big tent’ just fine with Mamdani’s ‘globalize the intifada’ mantra
– Stanford scientist says antisemites drove him out of lab after Oct. 7
– Ivy League prof leaves school over unwillingness to deal with anti-Israel hate

Pro-Palestinian activists hold banners that include, “globalize the intifada” during a protest commemorating Nakba Day on May 15, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Nakba Day, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians to mark the expulsion from land that now makes up parts of greater Israel, which occurred during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

TOP STORY: ‘Globalize the Intifada’ is just one opinion in the big tent that is the Democratic Party, according to DNC Chairman Ken Martin. He dismissed concerns over New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s unwillingness to explicitly condemn the slogan, adding in an interview with PBS that the key to developing a winning coalition is through welcoming people with whom you disagree. Mamdani has garnered backlash for refusing to condemn the phrase, which has become a rallying cry for anti-Israel protesters.

VIDEO: Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt argues the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the U.S., has been ‘overtaken’ by activists. WATCH HERE:

HATRED IN THE LAB: An Israeli scientist claims his work at Stanford was sabotaged, he was falsely accused of sexual harassment and ultimately fired, all because he is Jewish. Shay Laps joined Stanford University months after the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, with the hope of furthering his award-winning research into peptides and proteins under the mentorship of more experienced scientific minds, according to his federal lawsuit against the school.

DROPPING OUT: An Israeli professor has left Columbia University, fed up with the Ivy League school’s unwillingness to deal with anti-Israel protests on campus. Shai Davidai said he doesn’t trust the school’s leadership, including Acting President Claire Shipman, to make the school safe for Jewish students and faculty.

Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK: Jewish leaders and advocates predict a mass exodus from New York if 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. The winner of the Democratic primary has participated in anti-Israel protests and refused to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada” or recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

GUEST EDITORIAL: Anat Alon-Beck , Mark Goldfeder , Erielle Davidson explain how Ireland’s proposed boycott of Israeli businesses could create a dangerous legal trap for American investors. Under U.S. law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in or support foreign-government-backed boycotts of Israel, and many states have laws against even indirect support of the BDS movement. If Ireland were seeking to chase American capital out of the country, it could not have devised a better way to do so, they write.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “If Zohran Mamdani is elected, expect a Jewish exodus out of New York City.” – Yuval David, an actor, filmmaker and Jewish activist. 

– Looking for more on this topic? Find more antisemitism coverage from Fox News here.

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Mamdani sparks firestorm with resurfaced comment on abolishing private property: ‘He’s a communist’

Zohran Mamdani’s past comments are once again coming back to haunt his New York City mayoral campaign, as a resurfaced video reveals the socialist candidate floated the “abolition of private property.”

“My platform is that every single person should have housing, and I think faced with these two options, the system has hundreds of thousands of people unhoused, right? For what?” Mamdani questioned in a resurfaced video that has been clipped and reposted across conservative social media.  

“If there was any system that could guarantee each person housing, whether you call it the abolition of private property or you call it, you know, just a statewide housing guarantee, it is preferable to what is going on right now,” Mamdani said. 

“People try and play like gotcha games about these kinds of things, and it’s like, look, I care more about whether somebody has a home,” he said. 

UNEARTHED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS EXPOSE RADICAL ANTI-ISRAEL VIEWS OF MAMDANI’S DAD: ‘COLONIAL OCCUPATION’

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani briefly speaks with reporters as he leaves the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 16, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (hoto by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The clip drew widespread condemnation from conservatives, including GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who told Fox News Digital, “He claims to be a socialist, whether it’s wanting to abolish private property or wanting to seize the means of production, these are communist ideas right out of the playbook of Karl Marx.”

“The fact that too many members of the media, too many members of the Democrat Party, are willing to go along instead of calling him out on it is disturbing, and I think that if the majority of New Yorkers knew what this guy truly stands for and how destructive and dangerous his policies are, there’s no way that they vote from, because so many in our city. Led places where socialism and communism destroyed their lives,” Malliotakis, whose mother fled communism to the United States from Cuba, said.

GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents New York’s 17th Congressional District, also took issue with the post. 

MAMDANI’S FAILURE TO WALK BACK THESE POSITIONS COULD CAUSE RECKONING IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: ‘FIVE-ALARM WARNING’

Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, on April 1, 2025. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

“Zohran Mamdani’s call to abolish private property is dangerous and un-American,” Lawler said. 

“It’s the kind of radical socialist nonsense that would destroy livelihoods in the Hudson Valley and across New York. This will bring economic chaos, and New Yorkers deserve better than out-of-touch extremists pushing communist agendas that threaten our way of life.”

“Mamdani’s call to abolish private property isn’t just radical, it’s dangerous,” Rep. Claudia Tenney told Fox News Digital. “Stripping this fundamental right would devastate families, close small businesses, and destroy entire communities, all while handing more power to the government. Private property is a cornerstone Constitutional principle. It represents the essence of personal freedom, economic opportunity, and the American Dream. We must defend it.”

“Mamdani isn’t offering a housing plan — he’s pushing a communist manifesto. The idea of abolishing private property is fundamentally anti-American and wildly out of touch with the real issues New Yorkers face,” Rep. Nick Langworthy told Fox News Digital. “Families are fleeing the City and our State because of high costs, crime, and broken leadership — not because there’s too much freedom. New York City has to decide: do they want a mayor who believes in safety and prosperity, or a communist who wants to seize your home?”

The comments sparked a social media firestorm as well. 

“Yea, this guy is definitely not a communist,” Donald Trump Jr., who recently spoke to Fox News Digital about the prospect of Mamdani being mayor, sarcastically posted on X. 

“He is a communist,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz responded to the viral clip on X.

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New York City mayoral candidate and Democratic State Rep. Zohran Mamdani campaigns in New York City on April 16, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

“Like I said he’s a communist,” Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen posted on X.

“Yes, you heard that right,” New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik posted on X.  “Like the true Communist he is, Commie Mamdani supports the “abolition of private property.” This is the NY Democrat Party @KathyHochul you lead and you have failed to condemn this dangerous insanity.”

“Meet the new leader of the Democrat party, everyone,” GOP Sen. Roger Marshall posted on X. “He’s a literal communist.”

Since his surprise victory in the Democratic primary rocketed him to nationwide recognition, Mamdani has faced heated criticism and been labeled a “communist” for a variety of positions he has espoused, including on social media where resurfaced clips have come back to haunt him.