Trump defunding of NPR and PBS blocked by judge, but damage is already done
A federal judge ruled that President Trump's executive order defunding NPR and PBS violated the First Amendment and issued a permanent injunction stating that executive branch agencies cannot enforce it.
The Trump order's "instruction that all federal agencies stop funding NPR and PBS constitutes a penalty for engaging in speech disfavored by the President and cannot be lawfully implemented by any executive department or agency," Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee in US District Court for the District of Columbia, [ruled yesterday][1].
The ruling against Trump in the case filed by NPR, PBS, and several stations may not have much practical impact. Trump's May 2025 [executive order][2] was followed by Congress [rescinding][3] the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) budget of $1.1 billion for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
[Read full article][4]
[Comments][5]
[1]: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.280953/gov.uscourts.dcd.280953.81.0_4.pdf
[2]: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/senate-votes-to-kill-entire-public-broadcasting-budget-in-blow-to-npr-and-pbs/
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/trump-defunding-of-npr-and-pbs-blocked-by-judge-but-damage-is-already-done/
[5]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/trump-defunding-of-npr-and-pbs-blocked-by-judge-but-damage-is-already-done/#comments
People at a rally urge Congress to protect funding for public broadcasters outside NPR headquarters in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/trump-defunding-of-npr-and-pbs-blocked-by-judge-but-damage-is-already-done/
