
Klobuchar says rural stations would go under due to GOP cuts
'My hope is that we find some way to get through this, and so we don't see a bunch of rural stations going under, which is what will happen and it won't be the big city ones, it will be the rural ones,' Klobuchar told The Hill's Alex Bolton at the Hill Nation Summit.
The bill, which the House passed in June, includes around $8 billion in cuts for the United States Agency for International Development and another $1 billion cut to CPB. Some GOP senators, including Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), have expressed concerns over the proposed cuts to public broadcasting.
Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, discussed the roles radio and television stations play in Minnesota's rural communities.
'These rural stations are often the lifeblood of these communities when it comes to emergency alerts,' Klobuchar said, pointing to the station's coverage of air quality and wildfires in neighboring Canada.
'These are things that, they sound small, but they are what bring communities together,' she said.
Klobuchar said on Wednesday that she has been contacted by former Republican state legislators in Minnesota, who live in rural areas and sit on the boards of local TV stations.
'We know there's going to be some changes to the bill, so it's going to go back to the House. So I was disappointed in the vote last night. I think we should be asserting our power,' the Minnesota Democrat said.
Senate Republicans argue that they have enough votes to pass the package, which would be another victory for President Trump, who signed his 'big, beautiful' reconciliation package into law on July 4.
Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, struck a side agreement with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) to repurpose Interior Department money to aid around 28 radio stations in 14 states that broadcast on tribal lands.
Minutes before Klobuchar spoke on Wednesday, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said that CPB, the nonprofit that funds PBS and NPR, was 'an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars.'
'I don't think that's the role of the federal government,' said the Texas Republican.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


San Francisco Chronicle
29 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Army secretary wants to move more quickly on an agreement for Hawaii live-fire training lands
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii (AP) — The U.S. Army's top civilian leader said Tuesday that he wants to move more quickly on an agreement that will allow the military to continue using the only large-scale live-fire training range for ground forces in Hawaii. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he discussed the issue during a meeting with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Monday. The Army leases a key part of Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island from the state, and its contract to do so expires in 2029. It wants to be able to continue using the land so it can quickly send troops from Hawaii to Asia and the Pacific, something that is growing in importance as China becomes more assertive particularly regarding Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory. A May public hearing on whether to extend the lease generated hours of testimony against allowing the Army to stay. Many Native Hawaiians and environmental activists upset with the U.S. military's history of damaging Hawaiian lands with target practice and fuel leaks said they wanted the Army to return the land to the state. Driscoll told reporters the Army needs the Pohakuloa land, which sits on a rocky plateau about 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) above sea level between the Big Island's tallest volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. 'The world is changing. We all know this. The threat in Indo-Pacom is more real than ever before,' Driscoll told reporters, referring to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which overseas military operations in Asia and the Pacific. He said he wanted a more aggressive timeline 'to bake out these negotiations in the coming months, rather than waiting until 2027, 2028 and 2029.' 'This land matters to the United States Army. We have got to be able to train here.' Driscoll said. Driscoll said he asked Green's office for a list within the next few weeks of things the Army can do to help the community. 'What we are hoping to do is figure out ways where we, the Army, can continue to contribute to a community that has given so much to our Army and so much to our nation, while at the same time acknowledging the very real world threat that we are facing in the Indo-Pacific,' Driscoll said. The Army says other live-fire training areas in Hawaii are too small to accommodate battalions and brigades. And commanders say they wouldn't be able to deter potential adversaries in the Indo-Pacific if they have to spend extra time transporting troops to the region from U.S. mainland training ranges. Green said he spent significant time on Monday speaking with Driscoll and his team. "We will be exploring possibilities on the military leases together in the coming days and weeks, and he now better understands how important it is to us to work together for the good of Hawaii's people and our land, while we all work together protect our country,' Green said in a statement. U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat whose district includes rural Oahu and the Big Island, has said she wants the military to help increase Hawaii's housing supply and bolster Hawaii's water and sewer infrastructure. Healani Sonoda-Pale, a community organizer with the Native Hawaiian sovereignty group Ka Lahui Hawaii, said the state needs to look at how the Army is managing these lands. She said it would be irresponsible for negotiations to bypass that process. 'There shouldn't be any backdoor discussions regarding these leases,' she said. Driscoll visited Hawaii during a Pacific trip that will also include stops in Australia and the Philippines. He spoke to journalists in front of two HIMARS rocket launchers, which are designed to deliver precision strikes to long-range targets. Hawaii-based soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division are due to receive 16 of the launchers, which the U.S. also supplied to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia's invasion.


CNN
30 minutes ago
- CNN
The Department of Education has paused certain student loan forgiveness. Here's what you need to know
The US Department of Education has halted the cancellation of student loans in Income-Based Repayment plans, prompting concern among borrowers that their loans will not be forgiven anytime soon. The department posted a notice of the pause in an FAQ on its Federal Student Aid website earlier this month, saying that it needs to address a federal court order that affects income-driven repayment plans. 'Currently, IBR forgiveness is paused while our systems are updated to accurately count months not affected by the court's injunction. IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed,' the department wrote. The department noted that forgiveness in other income-driven repayment plans are paused, but it will continue to 'process loan forgiveness for the IBR Plan, which was separately enacted by Congress' in the future. The pause comes at a time of major change for the nation's student loan system that has rattled some borrowers. Interest will start accruing on August 1 for millions of borrowers in Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plans, a Biden-era income-driven repayment option that has been blocked by the federal court order, even as payment remain halted. And President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' contains a major overhaul of student loan repayment plans and borrowing rules. The roughly 2 million borrowers in IBR plans are eligible to have their loans forgiven after either 20 or 25 years of payments, depending on when the loans were taken out. But calculating whether borrowers have made enough payments to qualify for forgiveness has been an issue for several years. Also, the Biden administration made several changes to the IBR plan forgiveness program, including counting the months that loan payments were deferred for economic hardship reasons or paused in forbearance toward payment requirement. The court's order affected certain of the Biden administration's regulatory changes that pertain to the IBR plans, including the expanded set of deferments and forbearances that count toward forgiveness, said Mark Kantrowitz, a longtime student loan expert. Borrowers, however, are worried that the Trump administration — which has not been supportive of loan forgiveness programs in the past — may 'slow walk' the loan discharges, Kantrowitz said. They must continue repaying their loans until the Department of Education determines they have met the criteria to have their loans discharged. 'Borrowers who qualify for forgiveness want to receive their forgiveness,' he said. The department says that it needs to temporarily suspend the IBR plan forgiveness program to implement the court ruling. 'Legal IBR discharges will resume as soon as the Department is able to establish the correct payment count,' Ellen Keast, the agency's deputy press secretary, said in a statement to CNN. 'For any borrower that makes a payment after the date of borrower eligibility, the Department will refund overpayments when the discharges resume.' While the department did not respond to CNN's question about when IBR plan forgiveness will resume, Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, said he doesn't think the pause will last long. Still, another reason eligible borrowers are concerned about the pause is that loans canceled after January 1 are set to be counted as income for tax purposes, said Aissa Canchola Banez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group. That's because the Republican-led Congress did not extend a Biden-era provision that made such cancellations tax exempt and is scheduled to expire at year's end. 'This delay can force folks to ultimately get to that date in which they could potentially see a tax bill,' she said. The department, which has laid off a sizable number of its staff, is already contending with a large backlog of roughly 1.5 million applications from borrowers seeking to switch into different income-driven repayment plans, Kantrowitz said.


CNN
30 minutes ago
- CNN
The Department of Education has paused certain student loan forgiveness. Here's what you need to know
The US Department of Education has halted the cancellation of student loans in Income-Based Repayment plans, prompting concern among borrowers that their loans will not be forgiven anytime soon. The department posted a notice of the pause in an FAQ on its Federal Student Aid website earlier this month, saying that it needs to address a federal court order that affects income-driven repayment plans. 'Currently, IBR forgiveness is paused while our systems are updated to accurately count months not affected by the court's injunction. IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed,' the department wrote. The department noted that forgiveness in other income-driven repayment plans are paused, but it will continue to 'process loan forgiveness for the IBR Plan, which was separately enacted by Congress' in the future. The pause comes at a time of major change for the nation's student loan system that has rattled some borrowers. Interest will start accruing on August 1 for millions of borrowers in Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plans, a Biden-era income-driven repayment option that has been blocked by the federal court order, even as payment remain halted. And President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' contains a major overhaul of student loan repayment plans and borrowing rules. The roughly 2 million borrowers in IBR plans are eligible to have their loans forgiven after either 20 or 25 years of payments, depending on when the loans were taken out. But calculating whether borrowers have made enough payments to qualify for forgiveness has been an issue for several years. Also, the Biden administration made several changes to the IBR plan forgiveness program, including counting the months that loan payments were deferred for economic hardship reasons or paused in forbearance toward payment requirement. The court's order affected certain of the Biden administration's regulatory changes that pertain to the IBR plans, including the expanded set of deferments and forbearances that count toward forgiveness, said Mark Kantrowitz, a longtime student loan expert. Borrowers, however, are worried that the Trump administration — which has not been supportive of loan forgiveness programs in the past — may 'slow walk' the loan discharges, Kantrowitz said. They must continue repaying their loans until the Department of Education determines they have met the criteria to have their loans discharged. 'Borrowers who qualify for forgiveness want to receive their forgiveness,' he said. The department says that it needs to temporarily suspend the IBR plan forgiveness program to implement the court ruling. 'Legal IBR discharges will resume as soon as the Department is able to establish the correct payment count,' Ellen Keast, the agency's deputy press secretary, said in a statement to CNN. 'For any borrower that makes a payment after the date of borrower eligibility, the Department will refund overpayments when the discharges resume.' While the department did not respond to CNN's question about when IBR plan forgiveness will resume, Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, said he doesn't think the pause will last long. Still, another reason eligible borrowers are concerned about the pause is that loans canceled after January 1 are set to be counted as income for tax purposes, said Aissa Canchola Banez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group. That's because the Republican-led Congress did not extend a Biden-era provision that made such cancellations tax exempt and is scheduled to expire at year's end. 'This delay can force folks to ultimately get to that date in which they could potentially see a tax bill,' she said. The department, which has laid off a sizable number of its staff, is already contending with a large backlog of roughly 1.5 million applications from borrowers seeking to switch into different income-driven repayment plans, Kantrowitz said.