The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will start shutting down its operations after Congress and the Trump administration decided to cut $1.1 billion in funding through 2027.

The private nonprofit was founded in 1967 to help fund public media, which include 1,500 local public radio and television stations, as well as PBS and NPR.

It’s the first time funding for Public Broadcasting has been cut in over 50 years

Back in May, Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut federal funding to PBS and NPR. Congress then approved the administration’s request to cut $1.1 billion in already appropriated federal funds from the CPB, according to CBS News.

“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,” CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement. “CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”

What happens to staff?

CPB employees were told that most staff positions would conclude at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2025. A small team will remain active until January 2026 in order to close out operations such as “compliance, fiscal distributions, and resolution of long-term financial obligations, including ensuring continuity for music rights and royalties that remain essential to the public media system.”

This team will focus on compliance, final distributions, and resolution of long-term financial obligations, including ensuring continuity for music rights and royalties that remain essential to the public media system.

The heads of PBS and NPR previously warned of the impact this would have on rural communities

In March, PBS CEO Paula Kerger and NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said the loss of funds is “a real risk to the public safety of the country.” Some radio stations receive over 50% of their budget from federal funding and may lead to closures. This will negatively impact rural communities the most as local news provides emergency alerts during storms, floods and wildfires, Maher said. 

“Public media, public radio, public television, are a critical part of the emergency response plans of nearly half of the states in this nation,” she told CBS News. “If these types of emergency alerting go away, you will have fewer outlets to be able to respond in real time” during future natural disasters.