Photo Credit: PBS & NPR
President Donald Trump has signed a late-night executive order that will cut federal subsidies for PBS and NPR. The move escalates a long-running political battle over funding for public broadcasters.
The executive order directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and other federal agencies to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS” as well as root out indirect sources of public financing. The White House says the move is due to “biased and partisan news coverage.”
The move marks yet another significant escalation in efforts to reshape the media landscape in the US. Both the NPR and PBS receive roughly $500M in public money annually through the CPB. These cuts threaten to disrupt a wide range of programming including arts, culture, and music coverage that many Americans rely on. The executive order urges CPB to “terminate existing direct funding to the fullest extend permissible by law and refrain from providing future funding.”
CPB funding is appropriated by Congress and is not solely at the discretion of the executive branch—so the executive order could run aground of legal challenges. Both PBS and NPR have responded to the EO, calling it an “affront to the First Amendment.”
“The President’s overtly illegal executive order, issued in the early hours, jeopardizes our capability to provide educational content to the American public, a service we have maintained for over five decades,” says Paula Kerger, PBS President & CEO. “We are currently evaluating all avenues to ensure PBS can continue supporting our member stations and all citizens.”
“We will staunchly defend our right to deliver crucial news, information, and live-saving services to the American populace,” Katherine Maher, NPR President & CEO says about the order. “We will contest this executive order through all available means.”
“This matter transcends merely balancing the federal budget. The funding for public broadcasting, which includes NPR and PBS, constitutes less than 0.0001% of the federal budget. The President’s order is an affront to the First Amendment rights of NPR and locally owned and operated stations throughout America to produce and air programming that meets the needs of their communities.”
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