by (States Newsroom) Washington The Corporation for Public Broadcasting declared its closure on Friday.
The revelation was made just a week after President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that revoked $1.1 billion in previously approved expenditure for CPB, and a day after a significant Senate appropriations bill removed financing for the charity that supports public broadcasting.
The Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio, and hundreds of local stations nationwide are supported by CPB, which Congress established in 1967. The public media outlets have denied accusations of left-leaning bias made by President Donald Trump and other Republicans against NPR and PBS.
In a statement released Friday, Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB, stated, “We now face the difficult reality of closing our operations, despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB.”
Harrison stated that CPB is still dedicated to carrying out its fiduciary duties and providing our partners with transparent and considerate support during this transition.
She went on to say that the public media has been one of the most reliable organizations in American society, offering opportunities for education, emergency notifications, polite conversation, and cultural ties to all regions of the nation.
According to CPB, workers were informed on Friday that while a small transition team will remain through January 2026, the majority of staff employment will end on September 30, 2025, when the fiscal year ends.
The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education budget measure for fiscal year 2026 was adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday; however, it omitted any funding for the CPB.
During a committee markup, Washington state senator Patty Murray, the panel’s senior Democrat, voiced her displeasure that the plan did not include a CPB allocation.
Communities nationwide will now bear the repercussions as more than 1,500 stations lose vital funding, which is a disgraceful reality, Murray added.
Congress passed a rescissions package in July that rescinded $9 billion in previously authorized foreign aid and public broadcasting spending, including $1.1 billion for CPB, in a victory for the Trump administration.
Only a few days later, Trump signed the bill into law.
