President Donald Trump's administration moved this week in an executive order to give the president greater control over independent regulatory agencies.
New Mexico U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján has raised concerns about actions by one such agency, the Federal Communications Commission, which could affect New Mexico's public media.
Earlier this month, Senator Luján and two other Democratic senators wrote to the head of the FCC Brendan Carr after Carr opened an investigation into NPR and PBS's underwriting practices.
In Senator Luján's words Carr was, "making it clear that he was going to go after broadcasters and public media for political purposes."
The letter from the senators also raised concerns about the FCC reopening closed complaints against three TV channels. Senator Luján says he is worried about the possible impact of the administration on public media.
"I'm very concerned with the attacks coming from Elon Musk and from this president on both PBS and National Public Radio," he said.
The president has called for the end of federal funding to public media, which would affect stations including KUNM.
Senator Luján gave the example of KENW as an important source of programming.
"It's a PBS affiliate that is actually on the campus of Eastern New Mexico University in Portales New Mexico. What happens if federal funding is eliminated from that program?" he said.
In the past, some Republicans in Congress have supported public media but Senator Luján says he doesn't see that's the case at the moment.
"That's a concern that I have," he said. "There are not many voices on the other side of the aisle willing to speak up publicly. We do reach out on a regular basis."
The White House and FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
