For decades, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has been a towering figure in Kentucky and in Washington, D.C. His greatest accomplishment is the reshaping of the federal judiciary. No other person in a century deserves more credit than McConnell for restoring our courts to serve the interests of all Americans in the manner envisioned by our nation’s Founders. It is a legacy that will endure for generations.
It includes securing the appointments of judicial heavyweights like Justice Neil Gorsuch, empowering federal regulators like FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, and mentoring rising stars like Kentucky Attorneys General Russell Coleman and Daniel Cameron. Together, these efforts have fortified a constitutionalist foundation rooted in limited government and the rule of law.
But you wouldn’t know any of this from listening to NPR or watching PBS.
These taxpayer-funded mouthpieces for the left have relentlessly smeared McConnell’s achievements, painting his principled actions as cynical power plays. As McConnell nears the twilight of his Senate career, he should seize the opportunity to protect that legacy by supporting H.R. 4, a bill to rescind $1.1 billion in federal funding from NPR and PBS, which have used public dollars to wage war on conservatives, including McConnell himself.
McConnell’s role in the judiciary is nothing short of historic. His bold move in 2016 to hold open the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Scalia led directly to Justice Gorsuch's confirmation, who later authored the pivotal decision overturning the Chevron Doctrine, a win for constitutional limits on bureaucratic overreach. Working closely with President Donald Trump and the Federalist Society, McConnell helped confirm more than 200 federal judges, including three Supreme Court justices. These aren’t partisan wins. They’re constitutional victories.
PBS, of course, responded with smears. Its 2020 Frontline documentary “Supreme Revenge: Battle for the Court” was a textbook example of leftist spin: ominous music, dramatic black-and-white footage, and breathless commentary all designed to paint McConnell as a conniving villain. It called Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation a “rush job,” conveniently ignoring the Senate’s constitutional authority and long-standing rules that McConnell followed to the letter.
Now contrast that to their treatment of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
PBS NewsHour anchor Geoff Bennett gave Schumer a glowing, 13-minute softball interview on March 19, 2025, urging him to be “tactically ruthless” against President Trump’s judicial nominees. No ominous music. No dramatic edits. And when Schumer stood on the steps of the Supreme Court in 2020 and warned Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh they would “pay the price” for future rulings, NPR and PBS yawned. Chief Justice Roberts condemned the comments as dangerous, while NPR and PBS did not.
The double standard is glaring. When McConnell acted to protect his constituents from what he saw as problematic judicial nominees from Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, NPR and PBS framed his actions as a constitutional crisis and, in 2019, labeled his decision to block Merrick Garland a “power play.” They ignored the constitutional legitimacy of his move while praising Schumer’s similar power plays as noble resistance. NPR and PBS’s sustained attacks on McConnell go beyond bias — they betray their congressional mandate for “strict adherence to objectivity and balance.”
McConnell’s influence also reshaped federal regulatory agencies. Under his backing, Ajit Pai repealed burdensome net neutrality rules, a major victory for free markets and innovation. But NPR and PBS framed this as a corporate giveaway, parroting far-left talking points while ignoring the economic and constitutional arguments in favor of deregulation. McConnell also helped shape Kentucky’s legal landscape by mentoring Coleman and Cameron, two attorneys general who’ve taken on the Biden administration’s regulatory abuses. You wouldn’t know any of that if you relied on NPR or PBS. They save their praise for liberal attorneys general who toe the leftist line.
And the numbers don’t lie.
A 2024 Media Research Center (MRC) study found PBS’ coverage of the Republican National Convention was 72 percent negative — while its coverage of the Democratic convention was 88 percent positive. Another MRC study found that on PBS’ NewsHour, liberal guests outnumber conservatives by a 4-to-1 margin. Meanwhile, an NPR veteran recently revealed that 87 newsroom employees were registered Democrats, zero Republicans. This is not journalism. It’s Democratic Party messaging, funded by your tax dollars.
Now, with retirement approaching, McConnell has a final opportunity to finish the job. H.R. 4 would claw back more than $1 billion from NPR and PBS. Keep in mind that this money comes from taxpayers and was appropriated at the request of then-President Joe Biden. And for what? To push a radical left agenda. From celebrating drag queens on children’s programming to downplaying conservative judicial victories, they have become state-funded propaganda machines.
McConnell’s legacy is secure in the courts, in the agencies, and in Kentucky. But he should take one more step to protect that legacy: pass H.R. 4, defund NPR and PBS, and end the left’s taxpayer-funded assault on truth.
Dan Schneider is the vice president of the Media Research Center’s Free Speech America.