The Colorado Public Broadcasting Corporation (CPB) Filled in a High-Dimensional Defendants’ Supremum

The administration is not respecting Congress’ right to direct how federal funds are spent, says the lawsuit. It names President Trump, White House budget director Russel Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Maria Rosario Jackson, the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, as defendants.

When the government retaliates in violation of the First Amendment, it is not always obvious. “‘But this wolf comes as a wolf.’” Trump has accused NPR and PBS of having content that is not “fair, accurate, or unbiased,” the complaint claims, and his and other administration officials’ comments about public broadcasters “only drive home” the executive order’s “retaliatory purpose.”

The differing profiles of the three stations joining in the suit capture the appeal and reach of the broader public radio system: the statewide Colorado Public Radio, which is based in Denver; Aspen Public Radio which broadcasts throughout the Roaring Fork Valley; and KSUT, originally founded by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and now serving four federally recognized tribes in the Four Corners region in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Congress allocates money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting two years in advance to protect public broadcasters from political pressure over fleeting controversies. The Congressional statute gave the authorization for the CPB to be established as a private corporation. Indeed, the organization is itself suing Trump over an earlier decree, in which he claimed to be firing three of the five members of CPB’s board of directors.

To counter the ideological characterizations, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews pointed to the statements by Trump that he was trying to exact illegal reprisals for the news coverage.

Investigating the Trump Administration’s Executive Order Interacting with the National Radio Broadcasting System (NPR) and the Colorado Public Radio Network

“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority,” CPB chief Patricia Harrison, a former Republican National Committee co-chair, said in a statement. Congress appropriated funding for the creation of a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.

The case is working through the federal courts, Harrison and the other board members are retained, and the hundreds of stations that send funding to the two national broadcasters are free to do so.

The relationship is closely intertwined, however, with public radio considering itself an interconnected system. NPR’s weekly audience for its programs, articles, podcasts and other offerings exceeds 43 million Americans, according to the network, including through its local stations.

Local station reporters appear frequently on NPR news magazines; the network often provides editing and guidance for regional collaborations between local stations; and NPR News member stations pledge to adhere to a shared set of ethical standards. NPR operates the Terrestrial Distribution system allowing member stations and community broadcasters to deliver content for broadcast. Additionally, the network and its member stations rely on CPB to help acquire rights to broadcast music for use on its shows.

Trump’s Republican allies in the U.S. House held a hearing at which Maher was assailed for both personal social media posts showing a liberal tilt years before she joined the network, and journalism published before her arrival. In her testimony, she pointed to NPR’s policies that prevent corporate executives from making editorial decisions for the newsroom. PBS chief Paula Kerger was asked about a video posted on a New York City public television’s website featuring a drag queen for a show intended for young children. Kerger said that it was taken down after it ran on television.

Carr wrote a letter to the heads of NPR and PBS, stating that they should stop using taxpayer dollars to support commercial advertisements, if that’s the case.

David Folkenflik, NPR’s media correspondent, reported and wrote the story for us, and also edited it with the assistance of the deputy business editor, Emily Kopp. The story was not reviewed before it was posted publicly, according to NPR’s protocol.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by NPR and the other Colorado public radio stations over the Trump administration’s executive order prohibiting Congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS.

The president is not authorized to take such actions according to the complaint. The purse’s power is with Congress.