PBS sues Trump administration over order to revoke federal funding

PBS is suing President Donald Trump and other members of his administration in an effort to halt his order stripping federal funding from the television network.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, argues that “regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.”

Trump and his administration have targeted a wide array of media companies he views as his adversaries, including looking to strip federal funding from public media organizations. Earlier this month, the president signed an executive order to restrict public funds to both NPR and PBS. In his order, Trump claimed the organizations engage in “biased and partisan news coverage.”

PBS argues in its lawsuit that Trump’s order violates the First Amendment because it “makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is cutting off the flow of funds to PBS because of the content of PBS programming and out of a desire to alter the content of speech.”

“That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations’ private editorial discretion,” the suit states.

In a statement to POLITICO, the White House disputed PBS’s accusations. “The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime. Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS,” said deputy press secretary Harrison Fields. “The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.”

Both NPR and PBS have been regular targets for Trump, outgoing Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk and the administration’s allies on Capitol Hill. A PBS spokesperson previously told POLITICO that government dollars accounted for roughly 16 percent of its funding.

The television system also names Education Secretary Linda McMahon in the suit, after the Education Department cut grants to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the independent, congressional-funded organization that provides grants to public media — for Ready to Learn programming, which includes making shows like “Sesame Street.”

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are also named in the suit because PBS’s technology is used as a backup for the nationwide emergency alert system.

PBS’s lawsuit comes just three days after NPR filed a similar lawsuit against the Trump administration. Like PBS, NPR’s lawsuit accuses the president’s order of violating the First Amendment. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is also suing the Trump administration after the president tried to fire board members.