President Donald Trump threatened federal funding to National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), so now he and his administration will face NPR in court.
NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed suit Tuesday morning in federal court claiming violation of free speech by Trump and his administration. Trump’s executive order prohibits NPR’s and PBS’s use of Congressionally-appropriated funds, as reported by NPR.
“It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. ‘But this wolf comes as a wolf.'” 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 filing by NPR states.
The reference to a “wolf” comes from the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in a 1998 dissent. According to the lawsuit, Trump’s administration is usurping the power of Congress to direct how federal funds are spent.
Trump, White House budget director Russell Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson are named as defendants.
Free speech lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous is on the team who filed the lawsuit on behalf of NPR and the Colorado stations in the District of Columbia. Trump’s early May executive order is called “textbook retaliation” and an existential threat to the public radio system “that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information.”
“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 CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement.
PBS is not involved in the lawsuit, but issued a statement.
“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.”
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss will handle the case. He is also handling the case of a lawsuit filed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) against Trump.
The three Colorado radio stations are: Denver-based Colorado Public Radio, Roaring Fork Valley’s Aspen Public Radio and KSUT, which serves four federally recognized tribes in the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
“Our mission — and our responsibility — is grounded in the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press and protects our ability to hold those in power to account without interference. This includes protection against government interference in our editorial decisions as well as in purchasing, acquiring, producing and broadcasting information,” the Colorado stations said in a joint statement.
Related stories:
Trump signs executive order to cease federal funding for NPR, PBS
Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Feds have no control of NPR, PBS
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Rebecca Barnabi
