The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down after Republicans pulled federal funding from the organization.
For 60 years, the nonprofit has distributed federal money to public media stations and producers, supporting educational programming, local journalism, and emergency communications across the country.
“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison.
The closure will result in job losses. CPB said most staff positions will end on Sept. 30, the close of the fiscal year. The organization said it would maintain a small transition team through January 2026 to handle final responsibilities.
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President Donald Trump urged Republicans to rescind CPB’s funding, arguing that government support of news media “in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.” They passed legislation to do that in July.
In addition to CPB’s closure, the funding cuts are expected to significantly affect rural public radio and television stations that carry National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service programming.
PBS President Paula Kerger told Scripps News that some rural public television stations could be forced to shut down.
