REPORT: PBS sues Trump administration

May 31, 2025

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From ABCNews.GO.com: PBS has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration challenging his executive order targeting public broadcasting.

PBS’s lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Washington, accuses the administration of unlawfully interfering in the operations of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and committing multiple violations of the First Amendment – viewpoint discrimination, illegal retaliation against the network and encroachment of PBS’s press freedoms. The suit also alleges the administration has violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The suit is filed by the network and its member station in Northern Minnesota, Lakeland PBS. It follows legal actions by NPR and the CPB, each of which seeks to block Trump’s efforts to dismantle federal support for public radio and television, support that began with the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.

“The EO 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,” the lawsuit states.

“That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations’ private editorial discretion, the lawsuit claims”