The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced Jan. 5 that its board of directors has unanimously voted to dissolve the organization, months after Congress rescinded federal funding that had long supported public media outlets, including National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

CPB’s board of directors opted to shut down the organization entirely, rather than maintain it as a defunded shell that could potentially be revived under a future administration. 

“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,” CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement. “When the Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic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 organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.”

The decision follows congressional action in July 2025 to stop taxpayers from having to spend roughly $9.4 billion on public media and foreign aid. As CatholicVote previously reported, the package eliminated $8.3 billion previously allocated to the U.S. Agency for International Development and $1.1 billion designated for CBP. The bill became law July 24. 

The White House had requested the clawback — known as a “recissions package” — and criticized CPB for what it called “radical, woke propaganda” presented as journalism. CatholicVote had endorsed ending taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS, arguing the networks should rely on private support rather than tax dollars.

In its Jan. 5 statement, CPB said its leadership concluded that “without the resources to fulfill its congressionally mandated responsibilities, maintaining the corporation as a nonfunctional entity would not serve the public interest or advance the goals of public media.”

CPB said it will complete the distribution of all remaining funds in accordance with congressional intent as part of its shutdown. CPB added it will preserve its institutional archives in partnership with the University of Maryland and make them publicly accessible.

Established by Congress in 1967 as a private nonprofit, CPB served as the primary conduit for federal funding to public broadcasting, distributing billions of dollars over decades to support educational programming, local journalism, and cultural content at more than 1,500 television and radio stations nationwide.

The dissolution process is already underway. CPB previously announced plans to shut down Aug. 1, and most staff positions ended with the close of the 2025 fiscal year on Sept. 30, CatholicVote previously reported. According to Current.org, the organization is expected to file a notice of voluntary dissolution in mid-January, followed by formal articles of dissolution later in the month.