Breaking: House Defunds Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The House of Representatives on Saturday voted to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

According to UPI, by a party line vote of 235 to 189, the House passed a stopgap measure that would cut $61 billion from the 2011 budget:

The government would shut down March 4 without the funding bill, called a continuing resolution, which passed 235-189 after a marathon legislative session that ended in the early hours Saturday.

The bill cuts $61 billion in spending from the current budget.

Not one Democrat voted for the bill.

As the Ground Report noted moments ago:

On Saturday, the House passed the budget bill H.R. 1, a bill that would defund public media and prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing its new net neutrality rules by withholding funding.  In total, the bill, which passed by a 235 to 189 vote, cuts 61.5 billion dollars from the budget.  It now heads to the Senate.

In its current form, the bill will withdraw any obligation on the part of Congress to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which dolls out public media funds, beyond 2012.  Currently, the CPB receives around $420 million, or $1.40 cents per capita from the federal government.

CPB provides funding for both NPR and PBS.

As this is part of a larger bill designed to prevent the shutdown of the government next month, it will be very interesting to see what happens when it goes to the Senate.

If Democrats there defeat it as is expected, this will create quite a showdown between President Obama and the House.

Stay tuned.