Cantwell Statement on Shuttering of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement on the shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), as a result of the rescission of its Fiscal Year 2026 and 2027 funding passed on a partisan basis in July 2025.
“For the first time in nearly 60 years, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has permanently shuttered its doors,”said Sen. Cantwell.“With Trump's attack on the free press and local news disappearing, this silencing of trusted public media comes at the very time Americans need it most. We should be strengthening public broadcasting and local voices, not shutting stations and cutting off rural communities from their only source of emergency alerts and local news. This is a crisis for all communities who have relied on public broadcasting for accurate information, cherished children's programming, and trusted local news.”
The Democrats'Continuing Resolutionwould restore Fiscal Year 2026 funding for CPB.