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National Public Radio (NPR) and three Colorado member stations filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which cuts all federal funding to NPR and Public Broadcasting Services (PBS).
Signed May 1, the order directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to halt funding for NPR, PBS, and their affiliate stations, citing years of taxpayer-funded left-wing activism and “woke propaganda” as justification.
In a statement Tuesday, NPR CEO Katherine Maher called the order “retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination,” arguing it targets “programming the President dislikes.”
“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,” Maher said. “It is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR’s 246 Member stations, which are locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories. Today, we challenge its constitutionality in the nation’s independent courts.”
Maher further defended NPR’s editorial standards as “non-partisan,” claiming the network has “rigorous safeguards” and “an editorial firewall that protects against interference in editorial decision-making.”
The Trump administration, however, highlighted numerous examples of what it called ideological bias in a statement announcing the order earlier this month. It accused NPR of repeatedly promoting “gender-affirming care” for minors without mentioning long-term risks and consistently labeling pro-life demonstrators as “anti-abortion rights activists.”
Last month, CatholicVote praised the move to defund NPR and PBS ahead of Trump’s order.
“Many liberal pundits insist that public broadcasting provides wonderful programming that the American people want,” said CatholicVote Vice President Joshua Mercer. “If that’s the case, they don’t need taxpayer funding or the strings that come with it. PBS and NPR have a long history and a strong fan base. They can easily survive with subscriptions or sponsorships.”
According to the lawsuit, NPR is seeking to have Trump’s order declared unconstitutional, along with reimbursement of legal costs and “any other relief that the Court deems just and proper.”
