Public Broadcasting Service said Thursday it will lay off about 100 employees, roughly 15% of its workforce, after Congress and the White House allowed $500 million in annual federal funding for public media to lapse.
The cuts, confirmed in an email from PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger to station managers, follow the elimination of long-standing taxpayer subsidies in a sweeping, Trump-backed rescission bill that removed the funds in July. Kerger said earlier measures — including hiring freezes and paused pay increases — were insufficient to avoid job reductions.
"These decisions, while difficult, position PBS to weather the current challenges facing public media," Kerger wrote in the message, according to PBS. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which previously distributed federal dollars to public broadcasters, is expected to shut down entirely by the end of the month, PBS said.
News of the staffing cuts was first reported by The New York Times. The New York Post sought comment from PBS. The network did not immediately release a public statement beyond the internal memo to station managers.
The funding curtailed in July represented an annual federal contribution that supporters of public broadcasting have described as integral to sustaining local stations and national programming. PBS said the reduction in revenue forced the organization to review its operations and take steps to reduce overhead.
For years, Republican critics have argued that PBS, National Public Radio and other taxpayer-supported outlets display liberal bias and have sought to end federal subsidies. The rescission measure that removed the funding was backed by former President Donald Trump, who campaigned on cutting federal support for public media.
The cuts at PBS come amid broader turbulence for the public media ecosystem. Local stations that have relied on CPB grants and federal support face fundraising and budget pressures. Some local station managers have been alerted to potential reductions in programming and services as organizations adjust to lower federal assistance.
PBS said it had implemented cost-saving actions earlier in the year, including hiring freezes and pay pauses, but that those measures did not erase the shortfall created when the annual federal allocation was rescinded. The organization did not provide a breakdown of which departments or units would see the largest number of layoffs.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, created by Congress in 1967 to distribute federal funds to public broadcasting, has for decades been a central conduit for taxpayer support. Its planned closure marks a significant shift in how public media will be financed and could change the relationship between local stations and national content producers.
Lawmakers who supported the rescission argued the move eliminates government subsidies for media organizations and addresses concerns about editorial bias. Supporters of public broadcasting argued that federal funding sustained programming that commercial media markets might not otherwise provide, particularly at the local level.
The layoffs at PBS follow a broader national debate over the role of federal dollars in supporting cultural and informational institutions. PBS officials said the cuts are intended to help stabilize the organization as it assesses longer-term funding strategies and relationships with stations and donors.
PBS did not provide a timeline for completing the workforce reductions or comment on potential additional cost-saving measures. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The grounding of federal subsidies for public broadcasting represents a notable policy shift carried out by the current Congress and administration, one that supporters and opponents say will have long-lasting effects on public media in the United States.