“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations following the passage of a federal rescissions package and the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) appropriations bill, which excludes funding for CPB for the first time in more than five decades.”
— CPB Press Release, August 1

How ironic that the same day as this press release, Mike Lawler appeared as featured guest for an in-depth interview on the PBS show “Firing Line.” Back in June, Lawler cast the deciding vote in the House to kill $1.1B of previously authorized funding for public broadcasting (see “Rescinding Truth & Humanity“). And now CPB is dead, the wood chipper victorious.

The White House proclaimed, “Trump Ends the Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.” But PBS is not FOX News or MSNBC. It’s Big Bird and in-depth, trusted reporting. According to a Pew Research study in March, NPR and PBS are two of the most trusted news sources:

While reasonable minds may differ on the merits of public funding for broadcast media, this feels like yet another Trump era assault on an educated and informed body politic. Or as Thomas Friedman calls it, “this trend towards self-blinding.” In a week that brought us the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for delivering bad news about Trump’s economy; and the removal of Trump’s name from an impeachment exhibit at the Smithsonian. On the heels of endless Trump threats and lawsuits against media outlets, universities and individuals who dare to publish words he doesn’t like, criticize his administration or utter the words diversity, equity or inclusion.

It is also jarring to contrast the $1.1B in CPB funding cuts with the $29B in stock awarded by Tesla’s board to Elon Musk (contingent on him sticking around for 2 years).

Mike Lawler has been one of the chief defenders of Elon’s DOGE wood chipper. Yet there he was on Friday, basking in the glow of PBS’s stage lights on the same day as CPB’s demise.

The original “Firing Line” TV show was a public affairs show that ran from 1966 to 1999, hosted by conservative author William F. Buckley. It survived for so many years largely because PBS picked it up starting in 1971. PBS revived the show in 2018 with host Margaret Hoover. It retains the format of a 26-minute in depth conversation with a single guest, “providing a platform that is diligent in its commitment to civility and the rigorous exchange of opinion.”

Trump may berate PBS as biased, but here’s a show that has offered a 26-minute platform without commercial interruption for guests such as Steve Bannon, Mike Pence, Peter Navarro, Tom Cotton, Ann Coulter, Ted Cruz, Tulsi Gabbard, Oliver North …. and Mike Lawler.

Lawler’s interview covered the expected ground. Intro: “A Republican Congressman from a purple district. How is that going? This week on Firing Line.” Followed by clips of his rowdy town halls. Discussion of pushing back on Trump, SALT, Gaza, the deficit, and Texas redistricting. Lawler delighted in rolling out his Trump impression as he recounted his tough negotiations on SALT and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

Pressed on OBBBA adding $3T+ to the deficit, with SALT as a big contributor, Lawler mainly criticized the economic forecasts, especially the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). “You’re going to see the deficit shrink,” he promised. Margaret Hoover countered with analysis from the conservative economist Jessica Riedl, who appeared on Firing Line on July 25th, “broke down the CBO numbers and laid out a case that is fundamentally opposed to yours,” as Mike’s smile tightened. “Viewers can see that to get the other side of the story.”

Which I did. At the heart of Riedl’s critique of OBBBA: “The majority of the costs of the bill are just extending the 2017 tax cuts. Those aren’t new policies that are going to increase growth over current rates because you’re just keeping current policies in place. The rest of the new policies are more special interest giveaways . . . . special interest clutter.” And she referred to DOGE as “spending cut theater,” going after “culture war totems that excite conservatives,” “symbolic cuts” that amount to “budget dust.”

CPB, Voice of America, US AID, government employees, DEI contracts. Budget dust.

The words of a conservative economist. On the firing line, where Mike Lawler will find himself for the remainder of his reelection campaign, attempting to explain his vote for OBBBA. As Elon enjoys $15B a year in stock bonuses from Tesla, along with his new tax breaks from Mike Lawler.