Sullivan voted for the 2025 rescissions package that reduced funding for public broadcasting by $1.1 billion through fiscal year 2027. In Alaska, that Native-American initiated station KYUK received 70% of its funding from the federal government. In the leadup and aftermath of Typhoon Halong, KYUK played a key role in warning primarily Yu’pik communities, many of whom speak Yugtun. With the loss of a little over $1 million in federal funding, however, KYUK was forced to reduce staff from 23 employees to 14 as well as cut a daily program to four days a week.
Sullivan Touted A Deal With The White House To Save Funding For Rural Alaskan Radio Stations Among Deep Public Broadcasting Cuts. According to Alaska’s News Source, “As Senate Republicans voted to move forward and debate President Donald Trump’s request to cancel some $9 billion in previously approved spending, including public broadcasting funding that has been closely watched by Alaskans, a spokesperson for Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-AK, said a last-minute deal with the White House will restore some Alaska public radio station funding. ‘Because of the importance of public radio for rural Alaska, for years Senator Sullivan has been an advocate for funding for our rural stations, and has been working for the last number of weeks with his Senate colleagues and senior White House officials on alternative sources of funding to help keep rural radio stations on the air,’ Sullivan’s spokesperson Amanda Coyne said in a statement. ‘Today, the administration committed to continued funding to help support our most rural stations.’ The statement came after Sullivan voted to move forward to have a debate over the president’s rescission bill, which includes slashing public media funding nationwide and large foreign aid cuts.” [Alaska’s News Source, 7/16/25]
Sullivan Claimed He Advocated For Funding For Rural Radio Stations And That He Would Continue To Advocate For Resources. According to the Alaska Beacon, “Sullivan spokesperson Amanda Coyne sent a statement by email on Thursday repeating the senator’s position that he had warned public media, NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for years about their ‘biased reporting’ that ‘would eventually jeopardize federal support for both national and local radio stations,’ she said. However, Coyne added, Sullivan has advocated for rural stations and has been working with other senators and White House officials on alternative sources of funding to keep rural stations on the air, particularly Native stations in Alaska. ‘Currently, there is approximately $10 million available for tribal and Native stations in the country. Alaska has 11 Native stations. Going forward, Senator Sullivan will continue working to provide resources to support as many Alaska rural radio stations as possible. He was discussing this funding issue with a senior administration official this morning,’ Coyne said.” [Alaska Beacon, 7/17/25]
Sullivan Claimed NPR Had Become “Overly Partisan” And Simultaneously Called Public Radio “Essential” To Alaska. According to the Alaska Beacon, “Sullivan’s spokesperson, Amanda Coyne, also sent a statement: ‘While Sen. Sullivan believes that NPR has become overly partisan and has veered far from its mission to include a diversity of voices in its coverage, he understands that Alaska’s public radio stations are essential to our state, especially in rural areas.’ Sullivan has also, in recent days, responded to constituents who have emailed in support of public media funding, saying in a form letter that he ‘will continue to work with the current administration to stress the importance of public broadcasting in Alaska and nationwide.’ Sullivan’s position is particularly interesting because of his politics: Unlike Murkowski, he’s rarely publicly criticized Trump’s policies. But while Trump’s White House has ripped into public media — saying this month that ‘the NPR, PBS grift has ripped us off for too long’ — Sullivan has long recognized its value, at least as far as the services it provides in rural communities.” [Alaska Beacon, 5/3/25]
Sullivan Called For An Amendment To The Rescissions Package To Protect Public Radio For Rural Alaskans. According to Politico, “South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan on Tuesday both said they want amendments to protect public radio stations for Native American reservations and rural Alaskans, respectively.” [Politico, 7/9/25]
Sullivan Touted A Side-Deal That He Claimed Would Save Funding For Rural Alaskan Radio Stations But Would Actually Only Serve As A One-Time Check Splitting $9.4 Million Of Reallocated Interior Funds Between 28 Tribal Stations From Eight Different States. According to Alaska’s News Source, “ours before the Senate is set to vote on President Donald Trump’s $9.4 billion proposal to cut funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid, opponents said Sen. Dan Sullivan’s negotiation with the Trump administration - which a spokesperson for Sullivan argued Tuesday night would preserve rural Alaska stations - would not be enough to save them, arguing it only amounted to a one-time check to Tribal public media stations. ‘I think with a side deal like this, [with it] not in the underlying legislation, it is not going to be an amendment, so we are sort of relying on different sources both within Congress and the [Trump] administration to talk about what they’ve said they’ve agreed to,’ Kate Riley, CEO and President of America’s Public Television Stations said. [...] The deal, according to Riley’s numbers, would potentially mean Alaska having to split $9.4 million among 28 Tribal stations in eight other states. She said those cuts would come out of reallocated programs from the Department of the Interior.” [Alaska’s News Source, 7/17/25]
KYUK, A Public Broadcasting Station That Warned Yu’pik Communities Of Typhoon Halong, Lost $1 Million In Funding And Was Forced To Reduce Staff From 23 Employees To 14 As Well As Cut A Daily Program To Four Days A Week.
According to NPR, “When the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit this Alaska Native village last month, Ryan David was at home with his four children. They felt the house shake in the wind, then as floodwaters came, the building floated away. [...] A month later, as villages across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta clean up from the storm and make repairs, hundreds of residents remain evacuated to cities such as Anchorage and Bethel. Now they face another loss. One of the few sources of local news and native language programming — public radio and television station KYUK — has lost federal funding that was up to 70% of its budget and plans to make cuts in January. [...] When it became clear the remnants of Typhoon Halong were headed toward the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Smiley says reporters started including that in their reports to warn residents. She says fall storms and even flooding are common in the region, but Halong was different from most. [...] It's a little over $1 million that we're receiving each year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Our salaries and benefits in FY 25 [fiscal year 2025] was also a little over $1 million,’ says Kristin Hall, KYUK's general manager. The station had 10 full- time employees and 13 part-time or on-call workers, says Hall. ‘Beginning in January, KYUK will transition to four full-time employees and ten part-time and on-call employees.’ In deciding where to make programming cuts, Hall says preserving Yup'ik language programs was a priority. A daily interview program, Coffee at KYUK, will lose three episodes a week in English, but keep its weekly Yugtun episode.” [NPR, 11/14/25]