The Planned Parenthood Federation of America performs more abortions than any other U.S. provider, accounting for roughly 35% of abortions nationwide. The group receives millions in funding from a number of federal government sources, typically more when Democrats hold the congressional purse strings and the White House. A coalition of pro-life organizations and individuals now are calling on Congress to cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.
Planned Parenthood experienced significant growth under Joe Biden but braced for change after the Nov. 5 election.
“The bill keeps getting stronger, and under this president we are very hopeful there will be action to defund Planned Parenthood,” Quena Gonzalez, the senior director for Governmental Affairs at Family Research Council, said on Washington Watch Wednesday.
Donald Trump was unable to directly defund Planned Parenthood during his first term, but he took aim at the organization in other impactful ways that forced them out of key federal programs. In January he signed an executive order to end the use of taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion.
The new Trump administration will likely reverse Biden's changes, health policy experts told The Poynter Institute after the election.
"This may likely be the reality that Planned Parenthood and other clinics will face with the changing of each administration," said Brittni Frederiksen, an associate director for Women's Health Policy at KFF who has focused on Title X.
In 2016, Trump campaigned on defunding Planned Parenthood. Vice President-elect JD Vance said last fall that the incoming Trump administration would stand by that goal. H.R.271, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2025, was introduced in the House in January by Michelle Fischbach (R-Minnesota) and has 54 Republican co-sponsors.
It prohibits providing federal funding for Planned Parenthood or its affiliates for a period of one year unless they certify they will not perform and will not provide funds to entities that perform abortions during that year. If the certification requirement is not met, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must recoup any federal assistance received by those entities.
The funding restriction does not apply to abortions performed in cases of rape or incest or when necessary to resolve a physical condition that endangers a woman's life.
The bill also provides additional funding for community health centers for the one-year period. These funds are subject to the same abortion-related restrictions and exceptions.
Challenging the funding for NPR, PBS
Trump has also taken aim at NPR and PBS. His Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Brendan Carr, sent a letter to National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) officials in late January expressing concern that their broadcasts could be violating federal law by crossing the line from underwriting announcements to full-on commercials.
The letter included a veiled threat as Carr said he would share the information with Congress as it debates whether to continue NPR and PBS funding.
Officials from the two groups appeared before the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government this week.
“Years ago, NPR educated America about, quote, the whole community of genderqueer dinosaur enthusiasts. Do you think that that's an appropriate use of tax dollars?” Representative Brandon Gill (R-Texas) asked NPR CEO Catherine Marr.
“I was not at NPR at the time,” she responded.
“That's not the question, though. Do you think that that's an appropriate use of our tax dollars?” Gill continued.
“I think our tax dollars that we use are to be able to provide a wide range …”
“I’ll take that,” Gill said.
“I hope Congress has the guts to follow through with this,” Representative Tim Burchett told Washington Watch host Tony Perkins, calling for quick action from Congress to start codifying Trump administration cuts that he noted can quickly be restored by a Democratic administration.
Burchett blasted the taxpayer-funded public media services for a barrage of progressive content, including drag shows and more. “These people at NPR and PBS, they literally hate this country. They hate everything that's about. They hate our patriotism. They hate our Lord. And they don't hide it,” he said.
Uri Berliner, an editor and staff writer, was highly critical of NPR in an op-ed in April, noting the staff included 87 registered Democrats and zero Republicans. Days later he resigned.
Burchett brought up the point that given the content aired by NPR and PBS that conservative news outlets should also receive federal funding. Still, Burchett is not optimistic that change is coming.
“I hope they prove me wrong. Somebody is going to come up with some way. We'll have two or three defectors, or they'll purposefully be absent, and the Democrats will stick together because this is theirs.”
Protecting federal elections
Elsewhere, earlier this week Trump signed an executive order requiring government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on voter registration forms.
Agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Social Security Administration and Department of State must provide states with access to federal databases to verify eligibility and citizenship of individuals registering to vote.
The Attorney General will prioritize prosecuting non-citizen voting and related crimes, including through use of DHS records and coordination with state attorneys general, the order states. That will grease the skids for coming discussion on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act next week.
“It simply does two things," FRC's Gonzalez explained, referring to the SAVE Act. "You have to have an I.D. to prove that you're a citizen and eligible to vote as an American in an American election. The second thing that it does is it requires states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls. That's it. That’s what they’re talking about.”
