Washington, D.C. (October 31, 2025) – Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) issued the following system message today:
As CPB enters the final phase of our winddown, our remaining staff continues to work 24/7, under extraordinary circumstances on behalf of the public media system, concluding new music rights agreements to help stations, closing grants, and applying funds balances where they are most needed through new grants.
I want to provide an update on the lawsuit from NPR related to our interconnection grant.
No final ruling has been made on the matter. However, on October 30, the federal judge did not grant NPR’s request to freeze all remaining CPB funding for interconnection. This decision affirms CPB’s authority to disburse these funds in support of the entire public media system. The judge directed CPB to reserve $36 million of the funds until the case with NPR is resolved. We are complying with this instruction.
This order enables CPB to complete the award to PMI that we had announced in August, following a competitive request for proposals. CPB initiated this process to achieve a more forward-leaning, effective and representative content distribution system for the benefit of public radio stations.
Following CPB’s decision to award these funds to PMI, NPR alleged that CPB was acting under pressure from the White House.
CPB has not succumbed to pressure from the White House as our actions over the past months demonstrate. For example, on April 28, CPB filed suit against the President of the United States challenging his authority to remove CPB’s board members. The case is still pending.
Further, CPB did not comply with the President’s Executive Order of May 1. CPB continued direct and indirect funding to NPR and PBS. CPB and our Board did not comply with the instruction to “take all other necessary steps to minimize or eliminate its indirect funding of NPR and PBS.” Nor did we follow the Executive Order’s instruction to change CSG guidelines. CPB issued a statement on May 2 and a message to the public media system affirming that the Executive Order has no effect on CPB.
For decades, CPB has worked to maintain the firewall between the public media system and political interference, supported journalism and upheld the First Amendment.
We have never and will never abandon our mission to protect the independence of public media and are still protecting our mission even in these final days.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967. It has helped support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is the largest single source of funding for public radio, television, and related online and mobile services. With the rescission of federal funds for FY 2026 and FY 2027, CPB is in the process of winding down operations. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn.