Judge blocks Trump order to cut funding for NPR and PBS

A federal judge permanently blocked an executive order by Donald Trump that sought to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, ruling the directive violated the First Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss found the order unlawful and unenforceable in a ruling on March 31, writing that the Constitution “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.” The operational impact of the ruling was not immediately clear, as the decision is expected to be appealed and follows prior funding cuts affecting public media.

The order directed federal agencies to “cut off any and all funding” to NPR, based in Washington, and PBS, based in Arlington, Virginia. Moss wrote that the government failed to identify any precedent allowing exclusion from federal funding based on an entity’s past speech.

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” Moss wrote.

The ruling followed legal challenges from NPR, which argued that efforts to restrict its access to congressionally appropriated funds violated its free speech rights and were intended to punish its journalism.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Theodore Boutrous called the ruling “a victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press.”

The case did not include Congress, which previously eliminated federal appropriations for public broadcasting, leading to the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

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