Corporation For Public Broadcasting To Shut Down After Trump, Congress Pull Federal Funding

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the longtime funnel of taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS, announced Friday it will shut down operations after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans successfully cut $1.1 billion in federal funding.

The move marks a major conservative victory in the battle against taxpayer-funded liberal media. For decades, CPB served as the primary vehicle through which billions of public dollars flowed to outlets long criticized for their left-wing bias.

“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 Patricia Harrison said in a statement. The organization informed staff that most positions would be eliminated by September 30, with all operations ceasing by January 2026.

Founded in 1967, CPB was originally intended to promote educational and cultural programming. But in recent years, the organization became a lightning rod for criticism as NPR and PBS pushed increasingly progressive content while claiming journalistic neutrality.

President Trump made clear where he stood earlier this month. “It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Rescissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The president’s call to action was heeded. Republicans in Congress not only blocked future funding but also clawed back the already-approved $535 million earmarked for this fiscal year. That money, which would have gone primarily to left-leaning programming, is now being redirected toward national priorities such as border security and veterans’ services.

The decision comes on the heels of growing public outrage over the media bias in government-funded outlets. A Media Research Center study revealed that PBS’s “Washington Week with The Atlantic” portrayed Republicans in a 93% negative light over a three-month period. Despite presenting itself as “objective,” the program spent more than 77 minutes attacking President Trump and GOP lawmakers, with only six minutes devoted to neutral or favorable discussion.

NPR was also in the hot seat recently as House Republicans grilled new CEO Katherine Maher over her network’s overt partisanship and its suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election. Maher was forced to backpedal under questioning, while former NPR senior editor Uri Berliner’s explosive resignation letter was cited as evidence of the network’s hard-left editorial direction.

Berliner, who left the organization after penning a scathing critique, argued NPR should “openly acknowledge and embrace its progressive orientation” and reject taxpayer dollars—undermining Maher’s claims of editorial neutrality.

For conservatives, the shutdown of CPB represents the end of an era of subsidized propaganda. With public funding gone, both NPR and PBS will now have to survive on their own merit, just like every other media outlet.

The announcement is a clear signal that President Trump and the GOP are serious about draining the swamp—not just in Washington, but in the media institutions that shape public opinion with taxpayer support. The free ride is over.