For more than fifty years, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has been a vital source of financial support for NPR, PBS, and numerous local radio and public access stations across the United States. However, on Friday, the CPB officially announced it was shutting down due to a significant loss of federal funding following a rescissions package signed into law by President Donald Trump last month.

The \$9 billion budget package eliminated all federal funding for the CPB, marking the first time in over five decades that the U.S. government has withdrawn its backing for publicly funded news programming. This move aligns with long-standing Republican efforts to defund NPR and PBS, which some accuse of serving as partisan outlets favoring the Democratic Party.

CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison expressed regret over the closure, acknowledging the many Americans who petitioned Congress to preserve funding. She pledged an “orderly wind-down” and committed to supporting partners throughout the transition with transparency.

The budget crisis has triggered uncertainty at NPR, leading dozens of staffers to resign. NPR CEO Katherine Maher criticized the funding cut, suggesting racial bias may have played a role, though she has not confirmed if she will remain in her position. Maher defended the network’s commitment to diverse voices, stating, “Having non-White voices and perspectives on air does not make us woke.”

Earlier, longtime NPR editor-in-chief Edith Chapin resigned, ending her decades-long tenure. In March, Maher testified before Congress, apologizing for NPR’s failure to properly cover the Hunter Biden laptop story and for initially repeating intelligence claims that the laptop was Russian disinformation.