| The decades-long Republican quest to end federal funding for the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio is on the verge of finally succeeding. Senate Republicans need just 50 votes to cut $1 billion in public broadcasting funds this week and they are on the verge of lining up those votes after a deal to spare global AIDS funds from the ax. The GOP has failed even during times of unified control of government to end federal funding for PBS and NPR. but President Donald Trump’s sway over Republicans looks to be enough to get it done.  OMB Director Russ Vought Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg Later today, the Senate will take the first procedural step toward fulfilling Trump’s request to slice about $9 billion out of this year’s spending. The House passed the cuts last month. That will barely make a dent in the government’s $2 trillion projected budget deficit, but the effort was promised to conservatives who reluctantly just voted for a tax cut bill adding $3.4 trillion in red ink over the next decade. There was some minor Republican resistance to cuts. White House Budget Director Russ Vought announced that a popular and successful $400 million global HIV/AIDS initiative known as PEPFAR would be spared. He also wrangled the support of South Dakota’s Mike Rounds by offering $10 million in new money for tribal radio stations that would otherwise face closure under the NPR cuts. The legislation would eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR, entities which have long been targeted by conservatives for alleged liberal bias. The immediate result will likely be the closure of small market stations and cuts to local programming, with cuts to national programming coming later if private donors don’t make up the shortfall. Maine Senator Susan Collins said she may still vote against the bill despite the sparing of the PEPFAR program. But there would need to be at least three more GOP defectors to block the bill from passing. And there may be more cuts inspired by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to come from the White House. Republicans are under enormous pressure to enact them. Trump has vowed not to endorse any lawmaker who votes against the package. Given that, it’s unlikely that last-minute lobbying from Big Bird and Elmo will save public broadcasting. — Erik Wasson | 
