National Public Radio Sues US Officials Over Funding Order (3)

National Public Radio Inc. and others are challenging President Donald Trump‘s executive order that seeks to cut off funding, according to a federal court complaint filed Tuesday.

The Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media order, which directs federal agencies to stop NPR from receiving any federal funding, violates the US Constitution and must be permanently enjoined, NPR told the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The complaint is one of several disputes between the Trump administration and media entities. A group of Voice of America journalists, for example, sued the US Agency for Global Media after it terminated contracts and staff, alleging these actions violated congressional mandates.

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime,” a White House spokesperson said. “Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS. 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,” the spokesperson said.

Trump’s order, issued May 1, also directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop indirect funding to NPR by mandating that local radio and television stations that receive grants not to use those funds to acquire NPR programming, NPR says.

The other plaintiffs in this case are Roaring Fork Public Radio Inc., doing business as Aspen Public Radio; Colorado Public Radio; and Kute Inc., doing business as KSUT Public Radio.

They say the order also requires the corporation to revoke grants already awarded to NPR, and to preclude NPR from receiving future grants.

This order is unlawful because it violates statutes Congress enacted, and violates separation of powers and the spending clause by “unilaterally imposing restrictions on funds in contravention of Congress,” NPR says.

The president lacks authority to “override Congress’s will on domestic spending decisions,” the complaint says.

And the order violates the First Amendment, because it seeks to punish NPR for the content of the news and other programming Trump dislikes, the complaint says.

Congress isn’t required to support independent public radio with federal funds, NPR says. But the government can’t constitutionally base its funding decisions on a desire to suppress ideas it thinks run against its interests, the complaint says.

“The Order does just that,” the complaint says. “It aims to silence NPR’s speech because the President dislikes the balance of viewpoints expressed in NPR’s programming,” the plaintiffs say.

The US Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the USAGM case, the D.C. district court granted a preliminary injunction requiring the agency to restore its employees and contractors. But the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit May 3 granted the government’s motion for stay pending appeal.

The government is likely to succeed in its appeal because the lower court likely lacked jurisdiction in enjoining USAGM’s staff cuts and ordering the agency to restore grants, the majority said. Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard dissented, saying the government is unlikely to succeed on the merits and that the stay has the effect of “silencing Voice of America” for the foreseeable future.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and in-house counsel represent NPR. Zansberg Beylkin LLC represents the stations.

The case is Nat’l Pub. Radio Inc. v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-01674, complaint 5/27/25.