A federal judge on March 31 permanently blocked President Donald Trump's executive order directing all federal agencies to cut funding to NPR and PBS, ruling the order violated the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that the President’s order amounted to unlawful viewpoint discrimination – the government using its financial power to punish speech it disagrees with.
"It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like," Moss wrote in the 62-page decision.
Trump signed Executive Order 14290, titled "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media," on May 1, 2025, directing agencies to "cut off any and all funding" to both broadcasters. The President had previously said he wanted to defund both organizations over what he described as left-wing bias in their news coverage.
Separate from the executive order, Congress passed the Rescissions Act of 2025 in July 2025, clawing back $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funding through fiscal year 2027. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting – the federal entity that channeled funds to NPR and PBS stations – began winding down operations in August 2025, and its board voted to dissolve the organization in December 2025.
Moss, an Obama appointee, wrote in the new decision that 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." He noted the administration failed to cite a single case in which a court upheld a law or executive action barring an entity from federal programs based on its past speech.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called Moss’s decision "a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law" in a March 31 statement.
"NPR and PBS have no right to receive taxpayer funds, and Congress already voted to defund them,” Jackson said. “The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue."
Moss’ ruling blocks enforcement of Trump's executive order but does not restore the congressional funding already rescinded.
In a March 31 statement, NPR CEO Katherine Maher called the ruling "a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press," and PBS chief Paula Kerger said the executive order was "textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination."