Trump signs order aimed at cutting NPR, PBS funding
WASHINGTON—Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting funding to news outlets NPR and PBS, the White House said, marking the US President’s latest attempt to use federal funding as leverage against institutions he does not view favorably.
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes funding to PBS and NPR stations, to “cease direct funding” to them, according to the order’s text released by the White House late on Thursday. It labeled the news outlets as partisan and biased.
“The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and shall decline to provide future funding,” the order says.
Other institutions
Both NPR and PBS have previously said Trump’s effort to cut their funding would disrupt essential media service and have a “devastating impact” on Americans who rely on them for credible local and national news, including during emergency situations.
The Trump administration has labeled other institutions in academia and the media industry—from Harvard and Columbia universities to NPR and PBS—as being leftist, Marxist, biased and woke, and threatened funding cuts. Human rights advocates have raised concerns over free speech and academic freedom.
The administration also sought to shut down Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, whose news broadcasts are funded by the government.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration in late April to halt those efforts.
Thursday’s order by Trump also aims to suspend indirect funding for NPR and PBS by asking the CPB to ensure “that licensees and permittees of public radio and television stations, as well as any other recipients of CPB funds, do not use federal funds for NPR and PBS.”
The CPB sued the White House on Monday after Trump sought to fire three of its five board members. The nonprofit corporation was created by Congress in 1967 and provides funding for more than 1,500 locally managed public radio and TV stations.
Several media outlets have reported the White House plans to ask Congress to rescind $1.1 billion in funding for the CPB, with the amount being two years’ worth of funding.
NPR has more than 900 employees, according to its website. The exact employee count at PBS was not immediately clear though a media report said it had over 550 staffers at the end of 2022.
