They are striking back.
On May 30, PBS filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and several federal agencies in response to an executive order that directed officials to reduce funding for PBS and National Public Radio (NPR), both of which receive partial government funding.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington, asserts that the President does not have the authority to control PBS’s programming or to cut its funding based on content. This action follows Trump’s May 1 executive order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to eliminate direct funding to NPR and PBS, citing concerns over what he described as “biased media.” The President also stated that no media outlet has a constitutional right to government subsidies.
White House officials highlighted specific PBS content, such as a children’s program featuring a drag queen and a film portraying a transgender teenager positively, as reasons for the funding cuts. PBS’s legal team argued that Congress has safeguarded funding for public broadcasting by channeling it through CPB, an independent nonprofit, and that federal officials are prohibited by law from exercising control over CPB or its recipients. They further contended that the executive order violates the First Amendment by targeting PBS based on its viewpoints, constituting clear discrimination.
NPR made similar legal claims in a separate lawsuit filed earlier in the week. A PBS spokesperson explained that the decision to sue was made to protect the editorial independence of public television and the autonomy of PBS member stations.
The White House responded to PBS’s lawsuit with a statement similar to the one issued after NPR’s filing, accusing CPB of producing media that supports a particular political party at taxpayer expense. A White House spokesman emphasized that President Trump is exercising his authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, CPB President Patricia Harrison reiterated the organization’s commitment to its congressional mandate of providing local communities with accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news, but declined to comment further due to CPB’s involvement as a defendant in the legal cases.
