A federal judge on March 31 ordered federal agencies not to implement an order from President Donald Trump to end funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, concluding that Trump’s order was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, based in Washington, said Trump’s order targeted the broadcasters, known as NPR and PBS, for their point of view.
“The First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type,” he
wrote in a 62-page decision.
Trump’s May 1, 2025, order
directed the end of funding for NPR and PBS. “Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence,” he said, adding later that it did not matter which viewpoints NPR and PBS promoted, but “what does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
In a
fact sheet released on the same day, the White House said that NPR and PBS had “fueled partisanship and left-wing propaganda with taxpayer dollars.”
Officials pointed to decisions such as NPR refusing to initially cover a story on a laptop computer that once belonged to President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, and PBS featuring a drag queen on a program aimed at children as young as 3.
NPR and PBS soon filed separate lawsuits that alleged the funding cuts were unconstitutional.
NPR’s
suit said that the order violated “the First Amendment’s bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association.”
Moss said that he was declaring Trump’s order illegal and unenforceable, and barring all federal agencies named as defendants from implementing or enforcing it.
