Judge rules Trump’s directive cutting off funding for NPR and PBS violates the First Amendment

Washington- A federal judge ruled Tuesday that parts of President Trump’s executive order stripping National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service of federal funding violated the First Amendment by seeking to punish both outlets for speech he doesn’t like.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss permanently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing two provisions of an executive order Mr. Trump signed in May, which directed all federal agencies to cut funding to NPR and PBS.

“The message is clear: NPR and PBS do not need to seek any federal assistance because the President disapproves of their ‘left’ coverage of the news,” Moss wrote in a 62-page ruling.

Moss wrote that the directive is unconstitutional because the First Amendment “does not tolerate” this kind of discrimination and retaliation.

Ted Boutrous, who represents NPR, hailed the district court’s decision as a victory for the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

“As the court expressly recognized, the First Amendment sets a line, which the government may not cross, in efforts to use the power of government – including the power of the purse – ‘to punish or suppress the disfavored expressions’ of others. The executive order crossed that line,” he said in a statement.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticized the decision and said she believed the administration would prevail in the case.

“This is a ridiculous decision by an activist judge who is trying to undermine the law,” she said in a statement. “NPR and PBS have no right to receive taxpayer dollars, and Congress has already voted to defund them.”

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have long criticized NPR and PBS for what they see as biased reporting against conservatives. The president claimed last year that the media were “arms of the radical left-wing Democratic Party.”

In addition to ordering federal agencies to end funding for PBS and NPR, Mr. Trump’s executive order directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which has provided public funds to both media outlets, to stop funding them. Last year, Congress passed and Mr. Trump signed a legislative package that recovered approximately $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

On the heels of this cancellation, the company announced last August that it would begin put an end to its operations and last month he filed articles of dissolution.

But the president’s executive order covered all federal agencies, and the National Endowment for the Arts, FEMA and the Department of Education subsequently canceled grants to PBS and NPR, according to court documents.

NPR and PBS, as well as several member stations, filed their lawsuits against Mr. Trump and his administration at the end of May, challenging the legality of his executive order. The Justice Department argued that the president acted within his authority when he ordered federal agencies to end funding for PBS and NPR because he had the right to decide which speech to fund.

But in his ruling, Moss rejected the Justice Department’s arguments and wrote that the president’s executive order crosses a First Amendment line that prohibits the government from using its power, including that of the purse, to punish speech it doesn’t like.

The measure, he said, “does not define or regulate the content of government speech or ensure compliance with any federal program.” It also does not establish neutral and relevant criteria that apply to all applicants for a federal subsidy program. Instead, she singles out two speakers and, based on their speech, excludes them from all federally funded programs.

Moss found that while Mr. Trump’s order is in effect, NPR and PBS cannot be considered for grants they would otherwise be eligible for based solely on the president’s dislike of their coverage, and wrote that the president’s directive seeks to punish both outlets for their past speech.

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that government action is aimed at views that the president does not like and seeks to stifle,” he wrote. “The executive order seeks to exclude NPR and PBS from receiving federal grants or other funding because they have provided more positive coverage of his political opponents than of his party and allies, because their media coverage, in his view, is misleading, and because they have criticized him.”

The judge added that “there is no question” that Mr. Trump’s measure targets NPR and PBS because he believes their coverage is unfavorable to himself and the Republican Party.

“Of course, the president has the right to criticize this or any other reporting, and he can express his own opinions as he sees fit,” Moss wrote. “He cannot, however, use his governmental power to order federal agencies to block plaintiffs from receiving federal grants or other funding in retaliation for saying things he doesn’t like.”