A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s executive order to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service was unconstitutional.
The ruling’s impact is unclear. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia noted that since Congress withdrew funding through last year’s Rescissions Act, and because the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has dissolved, no order can provide “meaningful relief” regarding that specific pool of money.
But Judge Randolph Moss repeatedly wrote in the Tuesday ruling that President Trump’s order crossed the line of the First Amendment. Moss was appointed to the D.C. district court in 2014 under President Obama’s administration.
Moss said that the order was issued without regard to nationwide interconnection systems, calling such distribution the “backbones” of public radio and TV.
Colorado Public Radio was a partner in the lawsuit challenging the executive order, along with NPR, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT. CPR said in a release that the ruling prevents the executive order from restricting CPR and other stations from using any federal funds for NPR content. In December, Radio World reported on the stations’ concerns.
NPR, according to its own reporting, said that it was not clear what the decision, which could be appealed by the Trump administration, would mean for the future of federal funding of public broadcasting. But the organization’s comments celebrated the decision.
“Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide,” Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said in a release.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law.”
Representatives from the three Colorado public radio stations, according to a release, said the stations remain prepared to defend the ruling should the Trump administration appeal.
Timeline
The executive order issued by President Trump last May ultimately clawed back $1.1 billion in funding that Congress had set aside for public media outlets. Later last year, it led to a dispute between CPB and NPR over public radio distribution.
CPB dissolved this past February.
The D.C. court acknowledged in its order that while the federal government may impose limits on grants or fund its own speech to promote specific perspectives, “the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others.”
Although CPB has been dissolved, the court clarified that this does not render the case moot because the executive order “sweeps beyond the CPB.”
The court is also issuing a permanent injunction to prevent federal agencies from enforcing the executive order.
In a statement, PBS, said it was “thrilled with today’s decision,” calling the president’s order a “textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles.”
