House Democrats keep pressure on Obama on NPR funding bill

House Democrats upped the pressure on President Obama to stand firm on continued funding for National Public Radio with a unanimous show of support for the broadcaster last week.

Without even a nudge from party leaders, all 185 voting Democrats rejected a Republican bill Thursday that would eliminate NPR’s federal cash. The bill passed the House 228-192. The unanimous vote sends "a very powerful signal to the Senate and the White House," according to Ross Baker, political scientist at Rutgers University. "Anything that brings together Heath Shuler and Maxine Waters," Baker said, is sure to gain notice from other Democratic leaders. He was referring to the two Democratic lawmakers, a centrist North Carolinian and a liberal from California. Although the White House said it “strongly opposes” the defunding measure, it stopped short of threatening to veto it. Observers on and off Capitol Hill said the White House is likely reserving its veto threats for bills with better odds of actually clearing the Senate and reaching Obama's desk. "There's a kind of political economy to veto threats," said Baker, of Rutgers. "You don't want to issue too many of them."