Overview

• National Public Radio joined by Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT filed suit in U.S. District Court naming President Trump, OMB director Russel Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and NEA chair Maria Rosario Jackson as defendants.
• The complaint contends that Trump’s May 1 order to halt CPB funding for NPR and PBS amounts to viewpoint-based retaliation in violation of First Amendment protections for free speech and press.
• Plaintiffs argue the order breaches the Constitution’s separation of powers by overruling Congress’s exclusive appropriation authority and misclassifying the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as subject to presidential control.
• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has defied the directive under its congressional charter and is simultaneously challenging Trump’s attempt to remove three of its board members in a separate lawsuit.
• Congress has secured CPB funding through September 2027 and NPR receives about 1 percent of its annual revenue from CPB, underscoring that the order’s immediate financial impact is limited but poses broader risks to local stations.