Paula Kerger, President and CEO at PBS, speaks at the executive session during the PBS Winter 2020 TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, Jan. 10, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo byWilly Sanjuan/invision/AP, File)
A federal judge on March 31 ordered federal agencies not to implement an order from President Donald Trump to end funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, concluding that Trump’s order was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, based in Washington, said Trump’s order targeted the broadcasters, known as NPR and PBS, for their point of view.
“The First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type,” he wrote in a 62-page decision.
Trump’s May 1, 2025, order directed the end of funding for NPR and PBS. “Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence,” he said, adding later that it did not matter which viewpoints NPR and PBS promoted, but “what does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
In a fact sheet released on the same day, the White House said that NPR and PBS had “fueled partisanship and left-wing propaganda with taxpayer dollars.”
Officials pointed to decisions such as NPR refusing to initially cover a story on a laptop computer that once belonged to President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, and PBS featuring a drag queen on a program aimed at children as young as 3.
NPR and PBS soon filed separate lawsuits that alleged the funding cuts were unconstitutional.
NPR’s suit said that the order violated “the First Amendment’s bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association.”
In court filings, government lawyers had said the order did not impose unconstitutional conditions on speech, but “merely aligns the Government’s sponsorship of activities with its policy priorities” and “declines to extend federal funding for Plaintiffs’ programs.”
Moss said that he was declaring Trump’s order illegal and unenforceable, and barring all federal agencies named as defendants from implementing or enforcing it.
“This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told The Epoch Times in an email. “NPR and PBS have no right to receive taxpayer funds, and Congress already voted to defund them. The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
A PBS spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that the outlet is thrilled with the decision.
“As we argued, and Judge Moss ruled, the executive order is textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles,” the spokesperson said. “At PBS, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation’s most trusted media institution.”
NPR did not return a request for comment by time of publication.
