NPR And 3 Local Stations Sue Trump Administration Over Funding Cuts

Trump purported to cut congressionally allocated funding for NPR and PBS with the stroke of a pen.

National Public Radio and three Colorado public radio stations are fighting back against President Donald Trump’s executive order purporting to cut their congressionally allocated funds, filing a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday.

Trump targeted NPR and PBS in a May 1 order that claimed both offered biased programming and thus did not deserve taxpayer money.

“Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens,” read the president’s order, seemingly contradicting itself.

Critics, along with lawyers for NPR and PBS, say the president does not have the ability to revoke funding that already has been earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funds to both media outlets.

In their complaint, filed in Washington district court, NPR and the local stations say Trump’s order “violates the expressed will of Congress and the First Amendment’s bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association, and also threatens the existence of a public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information.”