<h1>Congress cuts $1.1B public broadcasting appropriation, forcing stations to scale back services, layoffs, and emergency fundraising</h1> Congress eliminated a USD1.1 billion appropriation for public broadcasting, prompting the federal distributor to scale back operations and leaving roughly 330 television and 246 radio licensees with sudden funding gaps. Stations face immediate legal and operational consequences: layoffs, program reductions, renegotiated network dues, and suspension of obligations tied to prior funding expectations. Broadcasters are invoking emergency fundraising, philanthropy, interstation service-sharing, and dues relief to mitigate breach risks and preserve public-service commitments. The situation raises statutory and administrative questions about federal agency wind-down authority, continuity of federally supported services, and long-term contractual and fiduciary duties of noncommercial licensees and their networks.