Corporation for Public Broadcasting Disbands Following Funding Cuts

The nonprofit, primarily funded by taxpayers and responsible for supporting PBS and NPR, announced on Monday that it would permanently dissolve. This decision comes five months after initially revealing plans to close amid funding reductions initiated by President Trump and Congress.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) shared the news, stating that its board voted to shut down the 58-year-old organization. This action aligns with the $9 billion termination package approved by Congress and signed into law by President Trump, which slashed tax funding by $1.1 billion over a two-year period starting in July 2025. Additionally, the nonprofit cited ongoing political pressures as a key factor in its decision to disband, claiming it hindered CPB’s ability to function as intended under the Public Broadcasting Act.

Patricia Harrison, CPB’s President and CEO, acknowledged the challenging position the board faced in a press release. “With federal funds being rescinded, our priority is to protect public media’s integrity and democratic values by disbanding rather than leaving the organization vulnerable,” she stated.

The board noted that continuing as a defunct entity without the necessary resources would not serve the public interest or support public media goals. A dormant CPB, they argued, could easily fall prey to future political manipulation, jeopardizing the independence of public media and potentially endangering its staff legally.

In response, several Republican lawmakers celebrated the organization’s closure via social media, viewing it as a victory against what they perceive as a liberal bias in taxpayer-funded media. They have often criticized the funding directed toward PBS and NPR.

“We exposed their woke practices, defunded them, and now they’re gone,” the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Republican-majority account tweeted.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana also expressed satisfaction with the dissolution, referencing a past debate where he highlighted what he considered evidence of left-wing bias in NPR’s reporting. His comments included some controversial headlines from the outlet.

CPB was established in 1967 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” initiative. In a release from August 2025, CPB had made it clear that the impending operations cutbacks were a direct result of the economic recession package passed shortly before its announcement.

The CPB informed its employees that most positions would be eliminated by the end of the fiscal year, with a small transition team remaining until January 2026 to facilitate the winding down of operations.