Judge Rules Against Trump’s Order Ending Federal Funding for NPR and PBS

A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order ending federal funding for NPR and PBS, ruling that targeting the organizations over editorial viewpoints was “unlawful and unenforceable.”

US District Judge Randolph Moss said that the executive order violated free speech under the First Amendment, which “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” Moss wrote. “The First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others.”

According to Moss, Trump’s executive order “crosses that line” by singling out “two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs.”

“The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left wing’ coverage of the news,” Moss added.

As CNN notes, however, the ruling only prevents the Trump administration from denying federal funds on First Amendment grounds. It does not reverse a Trump-led campaign supported by the Republican-led Congress, which rescinded $1.1 billion in federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) last summer.

Signed in May 2025, the executive order halted both direct and indirect funding through the CPB, including funds distributed to local public radio and television stations. It also directed all federal agencies to terminate existing grants or contracts with NPR and PBS, while instructing the FCC and other relevant bodies to investigate the organizations for potential unlawful discrimination.

“We’re thrilled with today’s decision declaring the executive order unconstitutional,” PBS said in a statement. “As we argued, and Judge Moss ruled, the executive order is textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles. At PBS, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation’s most trusted media institution.”