NPR sues Trump admin over executive order to cut federal funding

WASHINGTON — National Public Radio and three of its affiliates in Colorado sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over a sweeping executive order signed earlier this month that would terminate the outlet’s federal funding.

In a suit filed in DC federal court, NPR and three stations — Colorado Public Radio in Centennial, Roaring Fork Public Radio in Aspen and KSUT Public Radio in Ignacio — alleged that President Trump’s order unconstitutionally infringes on First Amendment protections.

“The Order’s objectives could not be clearer: the Order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the President dislikes and chill the free exercise of First Amendment rights by NPR and individual public radio stations across the country,” attorneys representing the radio stations wrote in the 43-page filing.

“The Order is textbook retaliation and viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment, and it interferes with NPR’s and the Local Member Stations’ freedom of expressive association and editorial discretion,” they said.

“Lastly, by seeking to deny NPR critical funding with no notice or meaningful process, the Order violates the Constitution’s Due Process Clause,” they added.

On May 1, Trump ordered federal funding yanked from NPR and Public Broadcasting Service, arguing: “Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”

The president had railed that the “two horrible and completely biased platforms … should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY,” in a March 27 Truth Social post.

NPR CEO Katherine Maher had been hauled before a congressional panel that day before to answer questions about her left-leaning outlet’s failure to cover the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

“I do want to say that NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively or sooner,” Maher told members of the House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee.

Maher also faced uncomfortable questions from Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) about social media posts as recently as 2020 in which she claimed America was “addicted to white supremacy” and argued in favor of reparations for slavery.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought the following month asked Congress to claw back $1.1 billion in taxpayer funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides some funding for both NPR and PBS, as part of a rescissions bill that could pass by a simple majority.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting had been slated to receive $535 million in federal funds in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 to distribute to radio and TV stations — including NPR and PBS.

Upwards of 70% of CPB’s budget goes toward more than 1,500 local public media stations.

NPR takes around 1% of its funding from CPB, while PBS receives up roughly 15% of its revenue from the nonprofit.

Other revenue streams include major foundation grants and advertising as well as viewer and listener donations.

CPB previously sued Trump on April 29 for trying to fire three of its board members.

“The CPB Board shall cease direct funding to NPR and PBS, consistent with my Administration’s policy to ensure that Federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage,” Trump stated in his order days after the attempted ouster.

“The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and shall decline to provide future funding,” he added, giving a June 30 deadline.

Other agency heads like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were also deputized to cut taxpayer funding for public broadcasters failing to comply with anti-discrimination laws related to “race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.”

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime,” White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement.

“Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS. The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.”