NPR and three Colorado-based public radio stations filed suit earlier this morning in federal court against The White House and President Donald Trump over an executive order barring the use of congressional funds for National Public Radio and PBS. According to the filing, the plaintiffs include Aspen Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, and KSUT Public Radio, which state—along with NPR—that the executive order violates the expressed will of Congress and the First Amendment.
Furthermore, the lawsuit names President Trump, White House budget director Russel Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Maria Rosario Jackson, the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, as defendants.
“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,'” states the legal brief for the public broadcasters. “The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President’s view, their news and other content is not ‘fair, accurate, or unbiased.'”
Previously, last month, NPR CEO Katherine Maher told the network’s All Things Considered program about how the loss of government funding would be felt most by radio stations in rural communities.
“The big impact would be on rural stations, stations in geographies that are quite large or complex in order to be able to receive broadcast or infrastructure,” said Maher. “Costs are very high. You could see some of those stations really having to cut back services or potentially going away altogether.”
Subsequently, President Trump signed an order earlier this month directing that funds going to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Company be stopped. He accused both networks of biased coverage.
In response, Maher released a statement following the lawsuit, stating that the executive order was “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.
The White House has not commented on the lawsuit.
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