And #Trump has called on #Congress to eliminate ALL CURRENT & FUTURE #funding for #PublicMedia & the Corporation for Public Broadcasting [#CPB], though he has not sent a formal request for the current funding to be clawed back.

Earlier this spring, the #Republican-led Congress passed a stop-gap budget measure that fully funds CPB through the end of September 2027.

#Trump's appointee as chair of the #FCC, Brendan Carr, has launched investigations of the underwriting spots aired by #NPR & #PBS member stations. He claimed they were indistinguishable from commercials on for-profit networks, a violation of federal statute. (PBS & NPR say they have worked closely with agency staffers for decades to ensure those spots adhere to the #law.) Carr's FCC oversees to whom #licenses are granted to #broadcast using the federal airwaves.

#NPR manages & operates the terrestrial distribution system allowing member stations & community broadcasters to deliver & download content for broadcast. Additionally, the network & its member stations rely on #CPB to help acquire rights to broadcast #music for use on its shows.

The #ExecutiveOrder is just one front in the #Trump admin's attack on #PublicMedia—& itself a part of a larger assault on the #news media writ large.
#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #FreePress #democracy

The relationship is closely intertwined…w/ #Public Radio considering itself an interconnected system. NPR's weekly audience for its programs, articles, podcasts & other offerings exceeds 43M Americans…including through its local stations.

Local station reporters appear frequently on #NPR news magazines; the network often provides editing & guidance for regional collaborations between local stations; & NPR #News member stations pledge to adhere to a shared set of #ethical standards.

#Trump specified in his EO that recipients of federal funds from #CPB could not, under his decree, send money to #PBS & #NPR. NPR typically receives about 1% of its annual revenues from the CPB & another several percent indirectly from stations. On average, CPB provides each #PublicRadio station 8-10% of their revenues each year.

…Harrison noted the #statute #Congress passed to create #CPB "expressly forbade 'any department, agency, officer, or employee of the US to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees or contractors."

Harrison & CPB have…ignored #Trump's orders—retaining, for now, its board, as the case works through the federal courts—taking no actions to withhold money from #NPR & #PBS or its hundreds of stations…

When #Trump said he was ordering the Corporation for Public Broadcasting not to fund #NPR or #PBS any longer, the corporation's chief exec said he had no ability to do so.

"#CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President's authority," CPB chief Patricia Harrison, a fmr #Republican National Cmte co-chair, said. "#Congress directly authorized & funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly #independent of the #FederalGovernment."

"This is retaliatory, viewpoint-based #discrimination in violation of the #FirstAmendment. The #SupremeCourt has ruled numerous times over the past 80yrs that the govt does not have the right to determine what counts as 'biased,' Maher said in her statement Tues. "#NPR will never agree to this infringement of our constitutional rights, or the constitutional rights of our Member stations, & NPR will not compromise our commitment to an #independent #FreePress & journalistic integrity."
#Trump #law

An accompanying *fact* sheet for #Trump’s #ExecutiveOrder cited the claim that #NPR published articles “insist[ing] that COVID-19 did not originate in a lab” & “refused to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story.”

NPR's Maher rejected such ideological characterizations, pointing to such statements by Trump to argue he was seeking to exact illegal #retribution for their #news coverage.

#Trump cited his *authority* as president under the #Constitution & federal laws in making the order & said that neither #NPR nor #PBS "presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens." In other public statements, Trump & his allies have called the public broadcasters "left-wing propaganda" & made similarly disparaging remarks.

A team including #FreeSpeech lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous filed the suit for #NPR & the stations jointly in DC. The suit calls #Trump's EO “textbook retaliation” & an existential threat to the #PublicRadio system "that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital #news & #information."
“The Executive Order is a clear violation of the #Constitution & the #FirstAmendment's protections for freedom of speech & association, & #FreedomOfThePress,”NPR Pres & CEO Katherine Maher said.

"The Order targets #NPR & #PBS expressly because, in the President's view, their news & other content is not 'fair, accurate, or unbiased.'"

The “wolf”line was drawn from a 1988 dissent by the late #SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia.

The suit says the admin is usurping #Congress' right to direct how federal money will be spent & to pass laws. It names #Trump, OMB dir #RussVought, Treasury Secy #ScottBessent & #MariaRosarioJackson, the chair of the #NEA, as defendants.