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While public funding for media has been questioned many times before, Ferro said the threat felt more serious this year, because so many programs and departments simultaneously have been targeted for cutbacks by the Trump administration.

“I feel it’s so important now that people can have institutions they rely on and trust,” Ferro said.

The service would go away, unless stations could find a way to bridge the funding gap, said Ferro, who was in Washington for Wednesday’s hearing.

Stations in small and remote communities get as much as 40% of their funding from the CPB, Ferro said, making it difficult for them to stay on the air without the federal dollars.

Ms Ferro's concerns were echoed by Brian de la Vega, a prominent Florida-based, Venezuela-born immigration lawyer and military veteran.