PBS Sues U.S. President Donald Trump

PBS and Northern Minnesota Public Television have filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump over his executive order to stop funding the U.S. pubcaster.

U.S. President Donald Trump last month ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease federal funding for NPR and PBS. The suit filed in a D.C. district court Friday maintains that the action “will upend public television.”

“Regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS,” the suit maintains. “If allowed to stand, the [executive order] would override Congress’s decision to remove the administration of federal funding for public television from the government’s editorial purview. And it would have profound impacts on the ability of PBS and PBS member stations to provide a rich tapestry of programming to all Americans. PBS and Lakeland PBS bring suit to preserve their ability to serve their viewers and communities without political interference, as both Congress and the First Amendment mandate.”