Board votes to dissolve CPB following Trump’s move to defund public media
The board of directors at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides funding to US public media entities PBS, NPR and its member stations, has voted to dissolve the organisation after 58 years to protect it from “additional attacks.”
In a statement, CPB’s board said it has decided that without the resources to fulfil its congressionally mandated responsibilities, maintaining the corporation as a non-functional entity would not serve the public interest or advance the goals of public media.
A dormant and defunded CPB could have become vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse, threatening the independence of public media and the trust audiences place in it, and potentially subjecting staff and board members to legal exposure from bad-faith actors, it said.
The vote comes after the CPB’s previously allocated budget for the next two years was rescinded by Congress as part of President Trump’s move last year to defund public media in the US and drastically cut its foreign aid spending.
The ‘rescission bill’ claws back around US$9bn in previously allocated funding spanning foreign aid and public media. Within that, US$1.1bn previously allocated to the CPB was cancelled.
The rescission bill was a continuation of the Department of Government Efficiency work started by Elon Musk earlier in 2025, at the direction of Trump. At the same time, Trump took aim at public media in America, claiming that federal funding is being used to support biased and partisan news coverage.
The CPB said the decision comes after “sustained political attacks” that made it impossible for CPB to continue operating as the Public Broadcasting Act intended and its dissolution marks a “new era for public media” in the country.
Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB, said: “For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans – regardless of geography, income, or background – had access to trusted news, educational programming and local storytelling.
“When the administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organisation to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.”
Ruby Calvert, chair of CPB’s board of directors, said: “What has happened to public media is devastating. After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the board with no way to continue the organisation or support the public media system that depends on it.
“Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture and democracy to do so.”
First authorised by Congress under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, CPB helped build and sustain a nationwide public media system of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public radio and television stations.
Through CPB’s stewardship, public media became a trusted civic resource, delivering educational programming like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street.
It has also provided lifesaving emergency alerts during natural disasters and crises, and supported fact-based journalism.
As part of its orderly closure, CPB will complete the responsible distribution of all remaining funds in accordance with Congress’s intent.
CPB will also provide support to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting to continue digitising and preserving historic content, and CPB’s own archives will be preserved in partnership with the University of Maryland and made accessible to the public.
“Public media remains essential to a healthy democracy,” Harrison said. “Our hope is that future leaders and generations will recognise its value, defend its independence, and continue the work of ensuring that trustworthy, educational, and community-centred media remains accessible to all Americans.”
