On July 15, 2025, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan voted yes on the two motions that brought the Rescissions Act to the Senate floor, and each was agreed to 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote, so the bill would not have reached the floor without him. Two days later he voted for its passage. The law took back $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting through fiscal year 2027, including more than $20 million in funding for Alaska’s 27 public radio and television stations, the Alaska Beacon reported.
During the debate Sullivan voted against proposals to strike the cut, shrink it, exempt rural and tribal stations, and protect the stations that carry emergency alerts. In Bethel, KYUK planned to cut its full-time staff from 10 to four, and KUCB in Unalaska, KTOO in Juneau and the Kenai Peninsula's KBBI and KDLL each relied on federal grants for a third or more of their budgets.
What the Public Broadcasting Cut Dan Sullivan Voted For Cost Alaska's Stations
- KYUK in Bethel. KYUK, the public radio and television station for a hub community for 56 tribes spread across 48 communities, lost federal funding that was up to 70% of its budget, NPR reported. It had 10 full-time and 13 part-time or on-call workers, and its general manager said that, starting in January 2026, KYUK will transition to four full-time employees and ten part-time and on-call employees.
- Local and Yup'ik-language programs. KYUK's daily interview program, Coffee at KYUK, will lose three episodes a week in English while keeping its weekly program in Yugtun, the Yup'ik language, NPR reported, as the station tries to keep news and language programming for villages across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska.
- KUCB in Unalaska. In Unalaska, KUCB's general manager said that Federal funding last fiscal year was over $280,000, over 40% of our total budget. She said the station could become more of a repeater station, playing statewide content instead of local content, with fewer staff to cover an emergency. On the day of the Senate's vote, KUCB’s entire staff was working to inform our community about a tsunami evacuation after a large earthquake.
- KTOO in Juneau. KTOO's general manager said the station was projecting $1.2 million, or 34% of KTOO’s operating revenue, for fiscal year 2026 from federal grants, and wrote that the cut will result in sweeping cuts to local services at KTOO including music programs, news, and Gavel Alaska, its coverage of the Alaska Legislature.
- KBBI in Homer and KDLL in Kenai. For the two Kenai Peninsula stations, the rescission meant the loss of 40% of each of their annual operating budgets, the Homer News reported. KBBI started with layoffs implemented for part-time staff, effective July 31, 2025, and said it would be ending the afternoon newscast and only host a morning newscast.
Dan Sullivan's Votes on the Public Broadcasting Cut
- Sullivan Cast Deciding Votes to Bring the Public Broadcasting Cut to the Floor, Then Voted to Pass It. On July 15, 2025, Dan Sullivan voted yes on the motion to discharge H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act, from committee, and yes on the motion to proceed to it. Both were agreed to 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote, so a no vote from Sullivan on either would have stopped the bill. On July 17 he voted yes on passage, and the bill passed 51 to 48. The law canceled the money Congress had already approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose board then voted to dissolve itself after 58 years, ending the grants that paid much of the budgets of Alaska's local stations.
- Sullivan Voted Against Striking or Shrinking the Public Broadcasting Cut in July 2025. On July 16, 2025, Sullivan voted no on Senator Tammy Baldwin's amendment to strike the rescission of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which failed 47 to 52. Early on July 17 he voted no on Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski's amendment to replace the public broadcasting cut with a much smaller one, which was rejected 47 to 51. Either amendment would have left Alaska stations with federal money that the law instead took back; KYUK alone had received about 70% of its budget from those grants.
- Sullivan Voted Against Exempting Rural and Tribal Stations Such as KYUK in July 2025. On July 16, 2025, Sullivan voted no on Senator Ruben Gallego's motion to send the bill back to committee with changes to exempt stations licensed to or primarily serve rural areas or Tribal communities. It failed 48 to 51. KYUK, which serves 56 tribes spread across 48 communities, and KUCB in Unalaska were among the rural Alaska stations that motion would have protected.
- Sullivan Voted Against Protecting Emergency Alert Stations and First-Responder Services in July 2025. On July 16, 2025, Sullivan voted no on Senator Mazie Hirono's motion to ensure no public station designated as a primary entry point in the Emergency Alert System would lose funding as a result of the rescissions, which failed 48 to 51. He also voted no on Senator Catherine Cortez Masto's motion to bar the cut if it impacts any functions or capabilities in support of first responders, law-enforcement or the broader public safety, which lost by the same margin. In Bethel, KYUK reporters warned residents as the remains of Typhoon Halong approached in October 2025, three months before the station's planned staff cuts began.
- Sullivan Voted Against Protecting Children's Educational Programming on Public Television in July 2025. On July 16, 2025, Sullivan voted no on Senator Ed Markey's motion to remove any rescissions that would reduce access to children's educational programming through public television stations. It failed 47 to 50. KYUK, a radio and television station, received two community service grants each year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a dual licensee, money the law took back.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dan Sullivan on Alaska public radio
What is Dan Sullivan's record on Alaska public radio under Trump?
Dan Sullivan cast deciding votes on the motions that brought the 2025 Rescissions Act to the Senate floor, voted against amendments and motions to strike or limit its public broadcasting cut, and voted for its passage. The law took more than $20 million from Alaska's 27 public stations. KYUK in Bethel, KUCB in Unalaska, KTOO in Juneau and KBBI in Homer each lost a large share of their budgets, and KYUK planned to cut its full-time staff from 10 to four.
Did Dan Sullivan vote to defund NPR and PBS?
Yes. Dan Sullivan voted for the Rescissions Act on July 17, 2025, which canceled federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the body that funds local NPR and PBS member stations. The corporation's board voted to dissolve itself after the money was taken back, so the grants to Alaska's local stations ended with it.
Could Dan Sullivan have stopped the public broadcasting cut?
Dan Sullivan's vote was needed to bring the bill to the Senate floor: the motion to discharge and the motion to proceed were each agreed to 50 to 50 with the Vice President breaking the tie, so a no vote from him would have stopped the bill. He voted yes on both on July 15, 2025.
Did Dan Sullivan vote to protect KYUK and other tribal stations?
No. Dan Sullivan voted no on July 16, 2025 on a motion to exempt stations that primarily serve rural areas or Tribal communities from the cut, and it failed 48 to 51. KYUK's general manager told NPR that the station's federal grants of a little over $1 million a year had matched what it spent on salaries and benefits.
Last updated: 2026-10-25