Overview

• Cris Abrego used his Emmy Awards stage time to condemn Congress for voting to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, drawing loud boos in the Los Angeles venue.
• Abrego framed CPB’s role as a cultural and civic lifeline, noting many small-town stations also serve as essential emergency alert systems.
• Days earlier, the Television Academy gave CPB the 2025 Governors Award at the Creative Arts Emmys, with CPB chief Patricia Harrison emphasizing the group’s stewardship of federal funds for local stations.
• Congress’s July rescissions package stripped more than $1 billion from CPB after a May executive order by President Trump barred subsidies to NPR and PBS.
• CPB says most staff positions will end by Sept. 30 with operations phased out by January 2026, while NPR and three member stations have a pending First Amendment lawsuit challenging the administration’s actions.