PBS and NPR promised to fight back Friday after President Trump signed an order to block their federal funding, calling the move illegal and a threat to public broadcasting's future. As that battle is fought, the fate of local stations across the country hangs in the balance, the AP reports. CEO Paula Kerger said the "blatantly unlawful" executive order threatens PBS' run of more than 50 years of providing educational content. NPR President Katherine Maher similarly promised to contest the measure, describing the order as a direct threat to the mission of providing essential news and information.
The executive order, signed late Thursday, directs all federal agencies and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop public funding for PBS and NPR, accusing them of spreading "radical, woke propaganda." It also requires agencies to address any indirect funding. The CPB, which receives and distributes around $500 million in federal funds to public broadcasting each year, argues it is not subject to Trump's order and has already sued to block related board member firings. "Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government," said corporation President Patricia Harrison, per NBC News.
A White House proposal to formally rescind CPB funding as part of a larger $9.1 billion package has not yet reached Congress. In the past, political resistance has helped public media avoid major cutbacks sought by Republicans, per the AP. "There's nothing more American than PBS," Kerger said last month, per NBC, "and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress." (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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