Does U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn have Big Bird in his sights? Is he trying to evict Bert and Ernie? It’s a good thing Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon is already gone.

The Colorado Springs Republican in Thursday said he had introduced legislation to cut off federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the 52-year-old organization created by Congress to funnel taxpayer dollars to public television and radio, including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Lamborn also wants to end direct federal funding for National Public Radio.

Lamborn’s move came a day after Democrats in the House passed a measure approving $495 million in funding for CPB in fiscal year 2022, a $50 million increase from previous levels, despite continued efforts by President Donald Trump to cut off federal funds for public broadcasting.

The Republican-led Senate has yet to weigh in, but Congress in the past has approved CPB funding even when under complete GOP control.

Still, conservative Republicans have rattled that cage for years, calling it an unnecessary government subsidy of what they regard as liberal-leaning media.

Lamborn’s office said Thursday that with the nation $22 trillion in in debt, taxpayers should not subsidize the media. Most of the shows already are funded by private donors, Lamborn’s office said.

“The Constitution does not grant the federal government the authority to subsidize media programming,” Lamborn’s office said in a statement. “Not only is this funding unconstitutional and wasteful, but it has also violated the conscience rights of many conservative and religious Americans.”

Lamborn sees “increasing bias in sensitive political and social issues” on the part of public broadcasting, citing an episode of the PBS cartoon “Arthur” that that featured a same-sex wedding, which he said is “offensive to many conservatives and religious taxpayers.”

“Enough is enough,” Lamborn said in the statement. “Recent programming on [PBS] has offended many conservative and religious taxpayers who do not want the children inculcated with liberal viewpoints on sensitive topics. The Constitution does not grant the federal government the authority to subsidize any media conglomerate. Let’s bring an end to forcing Americans to subsidize media programming that is unconstitutional.”

In a statement Wednesday, CPB President Patricia Harrison praised the House’s “strong funding support.”

The increase funding, she said, mostly will go “to the nearly 1,500 locally owned public media stations, allowing them to create additional educational resources and engagement experiences, prepare job seekers for in-demand careers, and expand local journalism and authentic storytelling.”

In Colorado, most local public TV and radio stations are primarily supported by individual donors and underwriters and get only a fraction of their funding from federal taxpayer dollars.

In fiscal 2018, Colorado Public Radio reported $20.9 million in total revenue, with $903,000 coming from CPB.

Rocky Mountain PBS, the Denver-based public-broadcasting organization, reported $1.75 million in CPB grants out of $16.5 million total revenue in fiscal 2017.