Trump Pulls the Plug: PBS, NPR Face Collapse as CPB Shuts Down

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the main source of federal funding for PBS and NPR, has announced it will shut down operations. This decision follows a sweeping move by Congress to eliminate nearly $1.1 billion in federal support, a decision pushed by President Donald Trump and backed by Republican lawmakers. After nearly 60 years, the organization that helped create and sustain a national public media network will begin winding down, leaving PBS and NPR in financial limbo and potentially ending local broadcasting in parts of the country.

Trump Delivers on Longstanding GOP Promise

President Trump has long called for cutting federal funding for PBS and NPR, accusing both of political bias and failing to serve the interests of conservative Americans. “PBS, NPR—they stuck their foot in their mouth, but now they’re gone,” said Senator Tommy Tuberville. Trump made clear that pulling the plug on CPB was about accountability and fairness. According to supporters of the move, public broadcasters have routinely promoted far-left ideologies and ignored conservative voices, all while receiving taxpayer money.

Congress passed a $9 billion rescissions package in July that included the rollback of promised funds for CPB through fiscal year 2027. The vote, which mostly followed party lines, marked a major victory for the Trump administration. In the past, similar attempts to defund CPB had failed. This time, the effort succeeded, driven by what conservatives see as years of biased reporting and culture programming from public media outlets.

CPB Announces Shutdown and Staff Layoffs

On August 1, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison announced that the organization would begin an “orderly wind-down of its operations” and cease activity entirely by early 2026. “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,” she said.

Most CPB staff positions will be eliminated by September 30, 2025, the end of the current fiscal year. A smaller group of employees will remain through January to complete final tasks, such as making the last financial distributions and resolving long-term obligations related to music rights and royalties.

“For nearly 60 years, CPB has carried out its Congressional mission to build and sustain a trusted public media system that informs, educates, and serves communities across the country,” Harrison said. She called public media “one of the most trusted institutions in American life” and thanked station partners for their “resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication to serving the American people.”

(Editor’s comment: Trusted by whom?)

Fallout for PBS and NPR

PBS and NPR both responded to the news with concern but pledged to continue their services. PBS said in a statement, “As this remarkable institution winds down, PBS is committed to building on CPB’s legacy and maintaining our service to the American people for years to come.” NPR CEO Katherine Maher called the shutdown “a loss of a major institution and decades of knowledge and expertise.”

Maher also noted the serious financial ripple effects. “We will continue to respond to this crisis by stepping up to support locally owned, nonprofit public radio stations and local journalism across the country,” she said. NPR has pledged $8 million from its own budget to assist local stations that may lose vital funding.

While national NPR and PBS operations receive only a portion of their budgets from CPB, many local stations—especially in rural and underserved areas—depend heavily on federal support. In some cases, stations receive more than 90 percent of their funding from CPB grants. WQED in Pittsburgh recently announced plans to lay off 35 percent of its staff. Other outlets, such as Radio Catskill in upstate New York, are already bracing for the worst.

Public Reaction and Divided Opinions

Polls show that many Americans still support public broadcasting. A recent Harris Poll found that 66 percent of respondents support federal funding for public radio, including 58 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of Democrats. Yet support in polling did not translate into votes in Congress.

Critics of PBS and NPR argue that public media has lost its way. Trump allies accuse them of pushing liberal talking points and excluding conservative perspectives. The controversy reached a peak earlier this year when NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger testified before Congress. They defended their organizations against accusations of bias, but faced aggressive questioning from Republicans who said the networks had “failed to represent the full spectrum of American political views.”

Trump himself has clashed with public broadcasters for years. His administration was sued by CPB for attempting to fire board members. The organization also fought back against Trump’s executive orders to defund PBS and NPR, arguing that CPB is not an executive agency and should not be under White House control. In the end, however, it was Congress—not the courts—that ended CPB’s funding for good.

The End of an Era

The CPB was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” agenda. At the time, Johnson called it a way to ensure that television would not become a “vast wasteland.” Over the years, CPB helped launch iconic programs such as “Sesame Street,” “Frontline,” and “All Things Considered.”

Today, many of those shows are independently produced and may survive. But without CPB funding, some programs may see reduced availability, especially in parts of the country without broadband access or where PBS and NPR are the only source of news and educational content.

Public media advocates are now turning to philanthropists and local donors. Some local stations have reported a surge in community donations. Still, experts say private support will not be enough to make up for the loss of CPB.

As it shuts down, CPB leaves behind a mixed legacy. Supporters see it as a guardian of education, civil discourse, and emergency broadcasting. Critics see it as a taxpayer-funded arm of the political left. For President Trump and his supporters, the closure of CPB is not a tragedy—it is a long-overdue correction.

Trump has made it clear that he sees no reason to use public money to fund media that opposes his policies and ridicules his supporters. With CPB gone and federal funding for public broadcasting wiped out, he has delivered on that belief—and ended a major chapter in American media history.

NP Editor: PBS and NPR may both be able to survive on donations, albeit at a much lower level of survival. If they can’t, then they probably shouldn’t.

We predict that someone (maybe Soros, maybe Waner Brothers…), will swoop in to pick up the pieces. Given the nature of news and entertainment and the reach of PBS, a billion per year investment might not be out of line.

The post Trump Pulls the Plug: PBS, NPR Face Collapse as CPB Shuts Down appeared first on The Punching Bag Post.