PBS sues Trump for stripping its funds

Three days after NPR&nbsp did the same for its radio network, PBS filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump and other administration officials to challenge his executive order removing federal funding from the 330-station public television system.

In its lawsuit filed on Friday, PBS cited similar arguments in its lawsuit, alleging that Trump violated his legal authority by using “viewpoint discrimination” in his claim that conservative news coverage is biased against them.

In the lawsuit filed in US District Court in Washington, DC, lawyer Z W. Julius Chen wrote, “PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms.” Our Constitution and laws forbid the President from arbitrating the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS, despite any policy disagreements regarding the role of public television.

The administration’s actions came in the most recent legal action, with several of them being brought by media outlets that were impacted by Trump’s orders.

One of its stations, Lakeland PBS, which serves rural areas in northern and central Minnesota, filed a lawsuit against PBS. According to the lawsuit, Trump’s order poses an “existential threat” to the station.

According to a PBS spokesman, “after careful deliberation, PBS came to the conclusion that legal action was necessary to safeguard public television’s editorial independence and the autonomy of PBS member stations.”

“Lawful authority”

Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to stop funding the two systems in an executive order earlier this month. PBS will receive $ 325 million this year, the majority of which going straight to individual stations, through the corporation alone.

Harrison Fields, a deputy press secretary for the White House, claimed that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is funding a particular political party on the taxpayer’s dime.

Fields claimed that the President is using his legal authority to impose a cap on funding for NPR and PBS. The President was chosen with the intention to make sure that the taxpayer’s money is spent wisely, and he will continue to do so under the guidance of his legal standing.

PBS, which accounts for the majority of the programming for the stations, said it receives 22% of its funding from the government. The stations’ majority of the budget’s funding comes from the government, and 61 percent of it comes from individual station dues.

Interrupting “a rich tapestry of programming”

According to Chen, Trump’s order “would have significant effects on the ability of PBS and PBS member stations to provide a rich tapestry of programming to all Americans.”

A $78 million grant to the system for educational programming, which was used to create children’s programs like Sesame Street, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Reading Rainbow, has been cancelled, according to PBS.

The order threatens Lakeland Learns, the only local news, weather, and sports television program in the area, as it is alleged in the lawsuit.

Other names are provided in the lawsuit, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. PBS claims its technology is a backup for the country’s wireless emergency alert system.