The 58-year-old non-profit Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is no more. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is all of us right now.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting—which funneled your money to NPR and PBS to call birds, roads, and country music racist—is officially DISSOLVED.
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) January 5, 2026
Good riddance.pic.twitter.com/jjgUGcRjP9
For decades, conservatives and Republican lawmakers have advocated for CPB to be stripped of its taxpayer funding for the very reasons Sen. Kennedy outlined in the video: Government should not be paying for Democrat agendas and leftist ideology like the concept of racist preschoolers or Ken Burns latest snockumentary about how horrible the founders really were. But Congress was never unified enough to cross that line. Thanks to the election of President Donald Trump and the 119th Congress under the leadership of Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (LA-04) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), somehow they found the testicular fortitude to cut CPB off the government teat. The hypocritical leftists who claimed funding the CPB was imperative because it was such a vital resource to the country couldn't even be bothered to make up the $1.1 billion deficit left by the rescission of government funding. So, the once vaunted organization that funded PBS, NPR, and certain affiliate stations took its final breath.
Hurry and salt the earth to ensure there is no chance of revival.
The board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting voted to dissolve the organization after Donald Trump‘s successful effort last year to roll back federal funding.
The move is not a surprise: After it became clear that funding would not be restored, the CPB announced in August it would be shutting down operations. It had about 100 employees, and a transition team has been in place since the fiscal year ended September 30.
Remember when Democrats and the greedy leftists fought against these congressional rescission cuts and made hair-on-fire assertions about rural Americans dying because they wouldn't get weather alerts (hello, internet?!) and how they would end up even more ignorant and uninformed than they already were? Yeah, good times.
Eric Schmitt Shatters Democrat Scare Tactics About Weather Alerts Amid Debate on PBS/NPR Funding
Of course, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison bemoaned the $1.1 billion funding loss like the drama queen she is. According to her, the work that was done at CPB was so special, so elevated, and the Right was just so awful, that in order to protect its preciousness, CPB had no choice but to abort the organization.
Right on brand for the Left.
Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the CPB, 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 Joint Status Report filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was more cut and dried. What's done is done.
On December 10, 2025, CPB held a board meeting at which the directors unanimously voted to formally dissolve the corporation and for management to take all necessary steps to effectuate dissolution of the corporation. Under the D.C. Non-Profit Code, a nonprofit corporation is required to provide Office of Attorney General (“OAG”) with advance notice of the corporation’s voluntary dissolution. D.C. Code § 29-412.02(g). Thereafter, a nonprofit corporation files Articles of Dissolution with the Mayor of D.C., through the Corporations Division (DCRA), after settling debts and distributing assets. As a result, CPB intends to file its Notice of its Voluntary Dissolution on or about January 15, 2026 and its Articles of Dissolution on or about January 30, 2026.
When the lawsuits were over, and the rescission cuts a certainty, my colleague Brad Slager asked a salient question: If the programming is so pivotal, why not go to a commercial model in order to pay for it?
One thing that rarely gets discussed is the option of going with a commercial model. Why is it considered a non-starter for these outlets to resort to the standard practice of selling ad time? For all of the touted quality of the content on the network and the expressed need for PBS to be available, one would think that corporate arrangements could be made to keep the network afloat.
Dive Deeper: As PBS Struggles to Stay Afloat, the Model of What 'Sesame Street' Did Shows the Way
New: 'Philanthropic Organizations' Inadvertently Prove the Point About Defunding Public Radio and TV
One would think, but it is clear CPB cared less about keeping the network afloat and more about acting self-righteous and self-important. Too bad outrage and virtue signaling couldn't keep the lights on or pay the CEO's inflated salary.
Too bad, so sad. Not really — Bye, Felicia.
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