Laura Ross leaves CPB board amid legal fight over dismissal
Dru Sefton / Current
Laura Ross has left CPB’s board, ending the legal fight over the Trump administration’s attempt to dismiss her, court records show.
“Please take notice that I no longer hold or exercise the position of Director of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),” Ross wrote in a Tuesday letter to CEO Patricia Harrison. “… It has been an honor to serve my country and fellow citizens in this position.”
In April, the deputy director of presidential personnel for the executive office of the president told Ross and fellow board members Diane Kaplan and Tom Rothman in an email that their positions had been terminated. CPB sued, arguing that the president does not have authority over the nonprofit corporation.
But in June, a federal judge declined to grant emergency relief that would have temporarily kept the Trump administration from terminating the board members.
Then this month, the U.S. government sued those board members, asking for a judgment that they “be ousted and excluded” and repay any payments “taken by virtue of their usurpation of office.”
On Thursday, Ross dismissed her claims in the case against the Trump administration.
Then on Friday, the U.S. also voluntarily dismissed its claims against Ross, but said in court documents it plans to continue its case against Rothman and Kaplan. Ross’ letter to Harrison was shared as an exhibit in the dismissal.
Ross is now listed on CPB’s website as a former board member.
Rothman and Kaplan remain listed with two CPB directors whom Trump did not attempt to remove, Chair Ruby Calvert and Liz Sembler. The CPB board has nine director seats, five of which are now vacant.
A retired attorney who had served as chief of staff to the attorney general of New York state, Ross joined the CPB board in 2018 and served as chair from October 2022 to October 2024.
Ross’ departure also follows congressional approval last week of the White House rescission package that clawed back CPB’s forward-funded $535 million annual appropriations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
