PBS files lawsuit against Donald Trump over executive order to cease federal funding
PBS has filed a lawsuit against US president Donald Trump in a bid to block his executive order to defund the American public broadcaster.
In early May, Trump signed the order directing Congress to rescind US$1.1bn in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which supports both PBS and radio broadcaster NPR, accusing them of failing to provide “fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news.”
PBS and one of its affiliates, Lakeland PBS, responded on Friday by claiming the American “Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.”
In the lawsuit, PBS argues that its federal funding is protected from “political interference” because CPB’s long-term funding and decision-making cannot be influenced by the office of the president.
In addition to those “statutory restrictions,” PBS’s suit argues the executive order violates the First Amendment.
“The [executive order] 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,” read the lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia. “That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations’ private editorial discretion.”
Headquartered in Virginia, PBS comprises 336 local stations. It is behind programming and series including Nova, Frontline, POV and PBS Kids series such as Sesame Street.
In late April at Hot Docs festival in Toronto, POV executive producer Chris White said the series, which is produced by American Documentary Inc and is independent of PBS, was “operating as usual,” acknowledging that funding cuts would have a “devastating effect.”
PBS Masterpiece, the programming block that has long provided an important route into the US market for British period dramas, will not be affected whether there are cuts or not, according to its head of scripted content and executive producer Susanne Simpson. Last month, she told C21 that Masterpiece had a “clear path forward” and that “none of our current programmes through 2026 are affected.” She added that the Masterpiece team was “well into development for new shows coming in 2027 and 2028.”
The filing of the PBS lawsuit comes one month after the CPB also sued Trump after he tried to fire three of its five board members.
In addition to ordering CPB to cease federal funding to PBS and NPR, Trump’s executive order called for an end to “indirect funding to PBS and NPR by prohibiting local public radio and television stations and any other recipients of CPB funds from using taxpayer dollars to support these organisations.”
Previously, PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger said the executive order was “blatantly unlawful” and threatened its ability to “serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years.”
