Federal Judge Blocks Trump Executive Order Defunding NPR, PBS

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order defunding NPR/PBS was “unlawful and unenforceable,” blocking the order’s implementation.

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss wrote in his 62-page order that, while the government was free to criticize NPR and PBS’ content, the First Amendment prohibited Trump from wielding the government’s “power of the purse” to engage in “viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”

“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, a 2014 Barack Obama appointee, wrote.

Ted Boutrous, the lawyer representing both news organizations, called the decision “a significant victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson labeled Moss “an activist judge” in a statement and said the outlets “have no right to receive taxpayer funds.”

“The Trump administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue,” Jackson said.

Trump signed an executive order on May 1, 2025, titled, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” that ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease distributing federal funds to NPR and PBS and for all federal agencies to end any “direct or indirect funding” for the outlets. The order claimed that neither NPR nor PBS “presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”

Both outlets sued the Trump administration later that month over the order, arguing the order violated the First Amendment. Moss agreed, pointing to the White House’s release of a fact sheet alongside the order that accused the outlets’ content of fueling “partisanship and left-wing propaganda,” among other episodes.

Still, since the order came down, Congress passed a budget that ended any future federal funds for public broadcasting. The CPB was embroiled in a legal dispute with NPR over $36 million in funds appropriated by Congress for the network, though the two settled the lawsuit in November.

The CPB voted in January to dissolve, thereby making NPR and PBS’ point on that section of the executive order moot, Moss wrote. His order does extend to the executive order’s directive toward federal agencies, however.

A PBS spokesperson said the ruling reflected how the order was “textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles.”

“At PBS, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation’s most trusted media institution,” they wrote.

NPR CEO Katherine Maher also heralded the judge’s ruling as a “decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press” in a statement.

“Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official,” she wrote. “NPR and our Member Stations will continue delivering independent, fact-based, high-quality reporting to communities across the United States, regardless of the administration of the day.”

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