May 27 (UPI) — NPR sued the Trump administration Tuesday over an order to slash federal funding for the nonprofit public broadcaster, saying the order violated the First Amendment and the “express will of Congress.”
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington was brought on by National Public Radio and three of its Colorado-based affiliated stations: Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT Public Radio.
It “threatens the existence of (the) public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on,” according to court documents.
They argued that U.S. President Donald Trump’s May 1 executive order, which halted funding to NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service, violated the First Amendment and the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, that Trump did not have the legal power to end federal funding and the directive should otherwise be blocked.
Both news organizations have vowed a legal challenge.
NPR’s lawsuit contends the order was “textbook retaliation” and “viewpoint-based discrimination” and that the organization was “fully protected from censorship, retaliation or other forms of governmental interference.”
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in matters of politics or opinion,” the 43-page lawsuit read in part.
The president’s order asserts that government-funded news is “not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
Trump has long criticized NPR and PBS for alleged bias. During his first term Trump tried to defund NPR and PBS and last year referred to NPR as a “liberal disinformation machine.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, meanwhile, sends federal dollars to local member stations who in turn buy NPR air time, which Trump’s order seeks to end.
According to NPR, about 1% of its revenue is federally funded while its largest funding stream of about 36% derives via sponsorships, donations, memberships and licensing fees.
“Yet the President — criticizing what he perceives as ‘bias’ in the award-winning journalism and cultural programming produced by NPR — has issued an executive order that thwarts Congress’s intent and the First Amendment rights of Plaintiffs to be free from the government’s attempts to control their private speech, and their rights to be free from retaliation aimed at punishing and chilling protected speech, journalistic activities and expressive association,” attorneys wrote.
On Tuesday, NPR CEO Katherine Maher said the White House order was a “clear violation” of the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech, the press and association.
“It is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR’s 246 Member stations, which are locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories,” she said in a statement.
“Today, we challenge its constitutionality in the nation’s independent courts,” Maher stated.
