CPB Reaffirms Independence Amid NPR Funding Dispute

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, October 31, 2025 | 5:25pm CT

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) says it remains committed to protecting the independence of public media as it continues operating under "extraordinary circumstances" while winding down its activities.

In a message to the public media system, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said the organization is finalizing new music rights agreements, closing grants, and applying remaining funds where needed most. She also addressed the ongoing lawsuit filed by NPR over the federal interconnection grant.

Harrison confirmed that no final ruling has been made, but a federal judge on October 30 denied NPR's request to freeze CPB's remaining interconnection funds. The court ordered CPB to reserve $36 million until the case is resolved - a step the organization says it is fully observing.

The order allows CPB to move forward with its previously announced award to Public Media Infrastructure (PMI), following a competitive process aimed at creating a "more effective and representative" distribution system for public radio. NPR has alleged that CPB's decision was influenced by political pressure from the White House, a claim the agency strongly rejects.

"CPB has not succumbed to pressure from the White House," Harrison said, noting that the organization had itself sued the President earlier this year over attempts to remove CPB board members and had refused to comply with a May 1 executive order seeking to cut funding to NPR and PBS.

"For decades, CPB has worked to maintain the firewall between the public media system and political interference," Harrison said. "We have never and will never abandon our mission to protect the independence of public media."

A separate federal trial is scheduled to begin December 1 in Washington, DC, where NPR will argue that CPB's funding decision amounted to unconstitutional, viewpoint-based retaliation.