After his supporters cheered the idea, President Donald Trump announced during his presidential campaign that he would work to shut down NPR and PBS -- two government-funded media outlets that took a hard left turn somewhere down the line.
According to Breitbart, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) made the bombshell announcement Friday that it would begin an "orderly wind-down" of its operations after its funding was cut off in "a rescissions bill and the Senate releasing a FY 2026 appropriations bill that excluded CPB funding for the first time since its founding."
President Trump, during his first weeks in office, signed an executive order to the same effect, with the goal of shutting off the left-leaning outlets.
Democrats threw tantrums after everything was set in stone to begin the dismantling of the networks.
The organization released a statement explaining what's happening as it begins shutting down.
"For the first time in more than five decades, CPB has been excluded from the federal budget," the organization stated.
It added, "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."
Breitbart noted:
The shutdown comes after President Trump signed an executive order in May halting funds to NPR and PBS, denouncing the outlets for promoting political bias on the taxpayer’s dime.
"No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies," Trump's executive order read. "At the very least, Americans have the right to expect fair, accurate, and nonpartisan coverage if their tax dollars are funding it."
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) celebrated his role in passing bills that ultimately defunded the organization.
"The American people will no longer be forced to fund politically biased media," Johnson said upon the bill's passing.
CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison released a statement on the ultimate fate of the organization.
"Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country," Harrison noted. "We are deeply grateful to our partners across the system for their resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication to serving the American people."
It'll be interesting to see if future Democratic administrations (whenever that happens) attempt to revive it.
