NPR sues Trump over executive order banning federal funding

"The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press," NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said.

Published: May 27, 2025 10:04am

NPR and three Colorado-based public radio stations filed a lawsuit against President Trump on Tuesday over his executive order banning federal funding to the outlet.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and claims that Trump's executive order from earlier this month, which cuts federal funding to NPR and PBS, violates the First Amendment and provisions of the Public Broadcasting Act, CBS News reported. The court filing argues that Trump didn't have the authority to stop federal funding for NPR and PBS.

"The order's objectives could not be clearer: the order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the president dislikes and chill the free exercise of First Amendment rights by NPR and individual public radio stations across the country," according to the lawsuit.

Trump ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to not send money to NPR and PBS. NPR receives about 1% of its annual revenues from the corporation and some other revenue comes from stations indirectly. CPB gives public radio stations 8-10% of their revenues each year on average, according to NPR.

"The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press," NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This is retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," Maher continued. "The Supreme Court has ruled numerous times over the past 80 years that the government does not have the right to determine what counts as 'biased.' NPR will never agree to this infringement of our constitutional rights, or the constitutional rights of our Member stations, and NPR will not compromise our commitment to an independent free press and journalistic integrity."

The named defendants are Trump, Office of Management and Budget Director Russel Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Maria Rosario Jackson, the chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The White House didn't immediately have a comment on the lawsuit, NPR reported.

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