Late last night, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to slash funding available to US public broadcasters PBS and NPR.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting—which distributes roughly US$535 million in federal funds to public media each fiscal year—has been instructed to cease funding to both orgs. This bold move is meant to align with the Trump administration’s policy to “ensure that federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage,” the order explains.

The president has been making calls to defund public media for some time, amid other sweeping changes enacted under his latest term, including a strong pushback against DEI programs. And his executive order could pose significant hurdles for PBS KIDS and the pubcaster’s broader remit to provide crucial and widely accessible educational programming. 

PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger issued a statement this morning, criticizing how the “blatantly unlawful” order threatens its ability to serve the national audience. “We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans.”

PBS and its stations are said to receive around 15% of their revenue from CPB’s federal funds. As per data from the broadcaster, about US$32 million goes to the national programming schedule, with some remaining funds channeled to independent producers and children’s educational programming.

Paul Siefken, CEO and president of Fred Rogers Productions, shared his reaction to the news with Kidscreen: “Federal funding for PBS KIDS is irreplaceable and essential for the critical educational resources that tens of millions of children rely on all over the country.”  

Fred Rogers Productions is behind notable PBS KIDS shows including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Alma’s Way and Donkey Hodie. “We support PBS and have chosen to work with them for the last 57 years because no other children’s media provider has public television’s local infrastructure, which helps our youngest learners where they live and learn,” Siefken emphasized.

“The new executive order would directly affect funding that our kids programming relies on,” adds Seeta Pai, VP of children’s media and education at GBH—which has been one of PBS KIDS’ biggest content suppliers, down to its recent delivery of an Acoustic Rooster content package. Pai underlined the threat to investment that’s needed for research-proven learning opportunities through programming like Arthur and Molly of Denali. 

But the road ahead for the executive order appears unclear. For one, CPB is “not a federal executive agency subject to the president’s authority,” chief and president Patricia Harrison said in a statement this morning.

Pictured: Carl the Collector, a PBS KIDS series that launched in November.