NPR and public radio stations sue Trump White House over funding cuts

NPR and three of its member stations filed suit in federal court Tuesday against President Trump‘s White House over his executive order to block funding for public media.

Trump’s order called for an end to government dollars for the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, the taxpayer-backed entity that provides funding to NPR and PBS. He called the outlets “left wing propaganda.” The White House press release announcing the order contained 19 bullet points citing news and content by NPR and PBS that prompted the action.

The suit says the May 1 action by Trump violated the 1st Amendment.

“The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President’s view, their news and other content is not ‘fair, accurate, or unbiased,’” the legal brief said.

The suit also says that the funding — currently at around $500 million annually — is appropriated by Congress. The allocation is made two years in advance.

“Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government,” Corp. for Public Broadcasting chief Patricia Harrison said in a statement.

Harrison said that the Corp. for Public Broadcasting is not a federal agency subject to the president’s authority.

“The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press,” NPR President and Chief Executive Katherine Maher said in a statement.

The suit says the loss of funding from the Corp. for Public Broadcasting would be “catastrophic” for NPR. Local public stations use the funding to acquire programming from NPR.

The order is one of a number of attempts by Trump to limit or intimidate institutions he does not agree with. Targets included law firms, universities and media companies such as CBS, which is being sued for $20 billion over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.

NPR filed the suit with three public radio outlets, including Denver-based Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT, which serves the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Both NPR and PBS have stressed that the bulk of the federal funding they receive goes to stations that provide local news and emergency alerts for their communities.

PBS is expected to go to the courts to fight the executive order as well.

“PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organization to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans,” a representative said in a statement.