CPB is suing Trump after trying to dismiss board members: NPR

President Trump opened a new front in his attack on public media on Monday and claimed that he had triggered three of the five board members of the corporation for public broadcasting. The company Trump sued on Tuesday morning In response to the federal law and a judgment of the US Court of Justice in order to argue that he has no authority to take these measures.

The judge of the US district court, Randolph D. Moss, discovered a court hearing on Tuesday afternoon to make the application of the CPB on a temporary injunction, causing Trump's decree to come into force.

“As numerous courts have repeatedly confirmed, the constitution President Trump gives the authority to remove personnel who carry out his executive authority,” said Taylor Rogers, spokesman for the White House, in a comment by e -mail to NPR. “The Trump government is looking forward to the final victory in this topic.”

The CPB distributes more than 500 million US dollars annually to public broadcasting operators, especially local television and radio stations. PBS and its stations each receive an average of 15% of their income from the company; NPR stations receive 10% of their funds from CPB, while NPR itself receives about 1% directly from CPB. (NPR receives a bit more indirect because local member stations NPR for the right to radiate its programs, pay.)

Under the Law that CPB created More than five decades ago, the President has the authority to appoint members of his board of directors in consultation with the Senate leaders of both parties.

However, the law does not create authority for a president to remove it. As the CPB lawsuit states, the law does not contain the clause that the US governmental authorities have in common that its board members “serve as the president”.

In fact, the law expressly states that the CPB “will not be an agency or establishment of the United States government” and will use a number of measures that are determined “Remain the maximum protection against foreign disorders and control.“

The board members attacked by Trump are Tom Rothman and Diana Kaplan – both appointments by former President Joe Biden – and Laura Gore Ross, who was appointed to the board in his first term of office and then reinterpreted by biden.

“No federal authority”

In the past few weeks, the Trump administration has taken control of the boards in a similar way John F. Kennedy Center for performing arts and the US peace institute. Trump himself appointed himself chairman of the former and closed the latter. The two organizations are hybrid dent beams from Washington Fauna: the Kennedy Center is a public-private partnership. The Peace Institute is an independent non -profit company with the secretaries of the defense and the state as board members due to their office.

In a statement, CPB says: “The company for public broadcasting is not a state unit, and its board members are not government officials. Since CPB is not a federal authority that is subject to the President's authority, but a private company, we have submitted a lawsuit to block this fire.”

In his lawsuit, the CPB's legal team quotes the law to approve CPB, in which it is expressly stated that no civil servants or employees of the US government can serve on the board – and no board member can be regarded as a federal employee.

Trump's comprehensive measures to redesign the federal government and the workforce have inspired a number of legal disputes. Together with many victories, the White House was given numerous defeats in court, including cases of them submitted by them Law firms who have objections to management orders and employees of the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia Try to reintroduce the financing for your networks.

A frightening effect

Stephen Vladeck, professor of Georgetown Law, says that the CPB's lawsuit has “legs”.

But he adds a warning to those who oppose Trump's actions:

“The Trump administration does not try to get all these complaints,” says Vladeck. “Much of his behavior is obviously illegal. And a large part of his behavior will not survive any legal disputes. However, it is designed to intimidate, relax, change, to consume oxygen.”

Trump's attack on public broadcasting is part of his broader war against the media, which includes his own private lawsuits, comprises the legal pressure. restrictions About journalists' AccessMass cancellation of news subscriptions used by federal authorities, Protection of protection Against the investigation of the prosecutors of reporters and more.

In an interview with the Atlantic Published this weekTrump praised Amazon founder and Washington Post Owner Jeff Bezos, who killed a confirmation created by the President of the then Vice President Kamala Harri last autumn and changed his opinion pages around Away from his criticisms to Trump.

“He is 100 percent. He was great,” said Trump about Bezos.

In a broader sense, Trump has independent institutions that often serve as a platform for critical voices, which include non -profit organizations, foundations and universities.

Public media are a rhetorical sweet spot for the president due to the taxpay grant.

In a recently in the USA House subcommittee hearing, the hearing Conservative allies of the President tried to present public media as a toy for liberals and democrats. The CPB managing director is sued Trump, Patricia de Stacy Harrison, now former co-chair of the Republican National Committee and the Ministry of State under President George W. Bush.

A two-line email

The news of the President's intention was on Monday evening in an e -mail to the three board members of Trent Morse, the deputy presidential personnel of the President of the President of the President of the White House.

In full, I read: “In the name of President Donald J. Trump, I write to tell you that your position in Corporation for Public Broadcasting will immediately end. Thank you for your service.”

As the CPB stated in its legal registration, the message did not state that the Trump authority called to dismiss it.

A vow to withdraw the financing

The e -mail of the White House to the CPB board members has Trump's efforts to close the company as a whole. He said he Ask the Congress to push back the 1.1 billion US dollars It has already granted to support the nation's public broadcasters by September 2027.

As soon as you have received a formal request, the US house and the Senate would have to confirm the withdrawal of these funds – referred to as “resignation” – within 45 days with a simple majority so that it comes into force. While Republicans who control each chamber have publicly signaled support, it is not clear whether they have enough support in their own ranks. Congress leaders say that they have not yet received the request.

The decision of the congress of approving the money for CPB for two years was another effort to isolate the company and public media more generally out of political pressure. In a report by the House Committee from 1975 it states that progress financing “would make a major contribution to the elimination of the risk and appearance inappropriate interventions and the control of public broadcasting”.

Other state pressure on public media

Trump used other government levers to put pressure on public media. On social media, he repeatedly beat NPR and PBS to say that they should not receive any taxpayers.

His chairman of the chief tour regulation, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, opened A. Formal examination of the NPR and PBS stations And the practices of the networks for the execution of underwriting spots for company sponsors. He says that they cannot be distinguished from commercials; NPR and PBS as well as public media stations say that they adhere to the instructions that they have received from commissions employees over the decades, since they have been encouraged to expand their sources of income beyond public health insurance funds.

However, the investigation has an impact as the Carr agency monitors who receives licenses for the broadcast of Airwaves – and who can radiate their signals with the desired non -commercial area of ​​terrestrial radio frequencies.

The chapter on media In the 2025 project of the Heritage Foundation for a second Trump office, which was rejected by the President on the campaign path and followed by his adjutants in office, NPR, PBS and public media, “sheared” to be “sheared” of their non -commercial status.

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by David Folkenflik, correspondent of NPR Media, and published by the deputy business editor Emily Kopp and the managing director Vickie Walton-James. As part of the NPR protocol on reporting on itself, no company official or news manager checked this story before it was published publicly.