Maine Public and the Federal Funding Challenge

THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW: Please stand with public media and Maine Public right now by visiting Protect My Public Media, and urging Congress to vote against the Trump administration's "rescission package."

On June 3, the White House launched what is arguably the most direct attack on Maine Public and public media nationwide: a new and aggressive proposal that would claw back already-appropriated funds. From June 3, Congress has 45 administrative days to vote, though a vote could come as early as next week.

Please call or email your representatives immediately to urge them to vote against the proposal. Protect My Public Media makes it easy to send a quick message. The House is expected to move quickly, and preventing approval is the greatest chance we have to keep level funding for our critical work.

Other recent updates:

• NPR Lawsuit: On May 27, NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed a lawsuit against the White House’s executive order (see below*). The lawsuit says that the order violates the Constitution and free speech protections under the First Amendment. Read NPR CEO Katherine Maher’s statement on the suit here.
• Budget Request, May 2: The White House’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request proposes defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—a lifeline for more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations.
• *Executive Order: On May 1, President Trump signed an executive order aiming to eliminate federal funding to NPR and PBS. Specifically, it restricts CPB from directly or indirectly funding NPR and PBS. It also includes language restricting federal agencies in the same way. If it stands, the order would prohibit CPB from releasing funds to NPR and PBS, and prohibit stations like Maine Public from using CPB funds to pay NPR for programming or other associated fees. CPB said in a statement that the White House had no legal authority over the company.

Now is a moment when public media has never been more valuable. It’s also a moment when public media has never been more vulnerable. We must not stand idle. Here’s what you can do right now:

CALL AND WRITE TO YOUR LAWMAKERS TODAY. You can contact your lawmakers through the Protect My Public Media campaign, which has user-friendly outreach tools. While there, subscribe to their newsletter keeping you informed on what's going on and ways that you can help protect Maine Public and local stations across the United States.

THANK MAINE’S DELEGATION. We are very fortunate here in Maine to have strong support from our United States Senators and Representatives. We encourage you to reach out today to our Maine delegation in Congress and thank them for their ongoing support of Maine Public and their commitment to funding for CPB in the Federal Budget.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins
U.S. Senator Angus King
U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree
U.S. Representative Jared Golden

PUBLIC MEDIA HAS NEVER BEEN MORE VALUABLE. IT HAS ALSO NEVER BEEN MORE VULNERABLE. Please stand with us now by becoming an advocate for public media and support Maine Public today.

How does federal funding for public media work? What is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)?

Congress appropriates money biannually to support the CPB—an independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to manage the government’s investment in public media. CPB was established following the Public Broadcasting Act (1967), with a mission of ensuring universal access to noncommercial, high-quality telecommunications services, and has seen bipartisan support ever since. Public broadcasting is a source of local news, civic conversation, and critical emergency broadcast services for Americans in all 50 states and in every type of community: urban, suburban, rural, and remote. It is a highly successful example of a private-public partnership, and federal funding for public media amounts to about 0.01% of federal spending—only about $1.60 per person per year.

The public media system is also unique within the American media landscape. Independent, nonprofit public radio stations (including WNYC) combine original, locally produced content with programming licensed from NPR, the BBC, and other public media producers—curating a unique offering that meets the needs of their local communities. Stations often collaborate on shared programs, to bring in the perspectives of people across the nation. Collectively, stations rely on pooled resources from the CPB, including satellite interconnection, emergency alert systems, music licensing, and the development of educational programs.

How much funding is at risk?

The federal appropriation for CPB is approved two years in advance which is designed to provide a buffer between funding and partisan politics.

Public broadcasting’s requests for FY2024 include:

• $575 million for CPB for FY2024
• $60 million for Interconnection
• $31 million for Ready to Learn
• $56 million for Next Generation Warning System

How much CPB funding does Maine Public receive?
This year, approximately 12% of Maine Public revenues will come from CPB, about $2,335,000. Maine Public’s total operating budget for FY25 is $18.72M, 54% of which comes from membership and donor support.

What would happen if Maine Public lost CPB funding?
At Maine Public, we feel it's important to receive funding from many diverse sources, including individual listeners, local businesses, foundations and the CPB. Losing CPB funds would have a noticeable effect on our ability to serve the community with local news and music programming.

See what Maine Public has accomplished in the past year alone. Our ability to serve Maine in these ways would be severely compromised without CPB funding: READ MAINE PUBLIC'S COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT

Here's why proposals to eliminate federal funding threaten local stations like Maine Public:

• Studies confirm there is no replacement for federal funding.
• If federal funding is eliminated, local stations could be forced off-air or to cut valued programs or services.
• Rural communities could lose their only source of local media.
• Low-income families with preschool-age children could lose their children's only source of educational media.

Here's what you should know:

• Public media funding amounts to about $1.60 per American.
• Public media funding represents roughly .01% of the federal budget.
• Cutting public media funding would have no impact on the federal deficit, but would destroy the public media system. 

What else has happened?

• Attempted Firing of CPB Board Members: On April 28, President Trump attempted to fire three of the five CPB board members, which the CPB—as a private corporation—is currently challenging in federal court. At a hearing on Tuesday, April 29, the judge ordered CPB and the government to file arguments on CPB's motion for a temporary restraining order, which would prevent the President’s purported firing from taking effect until the case was fully heard.
• Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee hearing: On March 26, the heads of NPR and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula Kerger, were called to testify. They were joined by Alaska Public Media President Ed Ulman and other advocates. At the end of the hearing, committee chair Marjorie Taylor Greene said "After listening to what we’ve heard today, we will be calling for the complete and total defund and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."
• Legislative challenges to federal funding through the CPB: Lawmakers have introduced House and Senate versions of the “No Propaganda Act,” to prohibit federal funding for NPR and PBS. Another bill was put forward after the DOGE subcommittee hearing, known as the “No NPR and PBS Act” for short. Public funding for public broadcasting has enjoyed bipartisan support for over 50 years.
• Investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): In January 2025, the FCC launched an investigation into the underwriting practices of NPR and PBS, and member stations. FCC chair Brendan Carr has noted that his investigation could inform Congressional debate about federal funding, and stated that he does “not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS.”

Additional Information 

• PBS News Hour ran an informative 5-minute segment on the White House’s pending proposal for Congress to rescind all of public media’s funding.
• After the DOGE Subcommittee Hearing, NPR correspondents Scott Neuman and David Folkenflik shared 4 Takeaways.
• In a recent newsletter NPR’s Public Editor, Kelly McBride, dives into audience questions about federal funding of public media.