After nearly 60 years of supporting public broadcasting organizations like NPR and PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced Friday that it will close operations by early next year.
The announcement comes just two weeks after Congress decided, at President Donald Trump’s request, to take back the $1.07 billion it had previously approved to support CPB’s next two fiscal years. Though CPB is an independent nonprofit, it is entirely funded by the federal government. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s decision Thursday to advance a bill that did not include any funding for CPB in fiscal year 2026 further cemented CPB’s fate.
As a result, CPB will run out of funds on Sept. 30, when the current fiscal year ends. The organization told its employees Friday that many of its staff positions will be eliminated then. A “small transition team” will continue through January to close out operations. The organization employs roughly 100 people, according to CPB spokesperson Tracey Briggs.
For decades, CPB, which was founded in 1967, was responsible for distributing federal funds to public broadcasters through grants. Over 70% of the money it received from the government was redirected to more than 1,500 public radio and television stations. For many of those stations — especially those in rural areas — that funding made up a significant portion of their budgets.
“Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country,” CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement posted to the organization’s website. “We are deeply grateful to our partners across the system for their resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication to serving the American people.”
Briggs wrote in an email that CPB was created by Congress. “If Congress now or in the future funds CPB our stewardship would continue for stations and the American people.”
Throughout CPB’s history, various Republicans have tried to defund the organization, arguing that the government should not pay for public media — especially if it has a left-leaning “bias.” During Trump’s first term, he repeatedly pushed for budgets that would significantly reduce funding for CPB.
Trump has since upped the ante. In April, he attempted to fire three of CPB’s five board members. A few days later, he issued an executive order instructing CPB not to fund NPR or PBS. CPB pushed back against both actions, arguing that as an independent organization, it is not subject to the president’s authority. (The law does give the president the power to appoint members to CPB’s board.)
In April, CPB sued Trump, arguing that he had overstepped his authority in his firing attempts, and the three board members he had tried to terminate remained in their posts. Trump responded last month with a lawsuit of his own, asking the court to remove the board members and order them to return any salary they have received since April.
It is unclear what will happen to the lawsuits now that CPB is shutting down. One of the board members has already left, resigning last week.
Without CPB and federal support, many public broadcasting stations will likely make cuts. Some have already started. WQED in Pittsburgh announced Wednesday that it is laying off 19 employees. A couple of California organizations that receive CPB funding have also made cuts, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In its announcement Friday, CPB said it will provide “regular updates and guidance” to stations as they navigate “the profound challenges ahead.”
(CPB is a client of Poynter, which it has engaged to provide training for public media through the Digital Transformation Project and the Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative. This story was reported and edited independently.)
