The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) sued President Trump over his attempt to replace three of its five board directors.
CPB lawyers asked a Washington D.C. judge Tuesday afternoon to grant a temporary restraining order preventing Trump’s decree from being implemented.
The move comes after Trump said Monday he would remove 60% of the organization’s current board. Two of the directors Trump wants to replace were appointed by President Biden. One of the people he wants to remove was appointed by Trump during his first term as President. All three are named as plaintiffs in the case.
They argue that federal law prohibits Trump from removing members from its Board of Directors.
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 gives the President authority to appoint board members, but doesn’t appear to give him consent to remove them. The corporations filing says “CPB is not a federal agency subject to the President’s authority, but rather a private corporation” with government ties.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told NPR, which directly receives 1% of its funding from CPB, that the U.S. Constitution grants the Trump the power to use his executive authority to remove CPB personnel.
“The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue,” Rogers said.
CPB contends the Constitution’s removal provisions doesn’t apply to its board members because they’re not officers of the U.S.
More than $500 million is dispersed to public broadcasters each year by the CPB. According to NPR, its stations receive 10% of their funding from the government. PBS and its media outlets count on CPB assistance for roughly 15% of their annual revenue.
Earlier this month, a White House source told NPR President Trump planned to cut funding for public broadcasting. He would need the support of the Republican controlled Congress to make that happen. NPR said it expects those cuts to exceed $1 billion.
The President warned of funding cuts in an April 1 social media post.
“REPUBLICANS MUST DEFUND AND TOTALLY DISASSOCIATE THEMSELVES FROM NPR & PBS, THE RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump has already made his mark on the nation’s cultural landscape during the first 100 days of his second term. In February, he became the Board Chair of the Kennedy Center. He quickly added several allies to the Center’s Board of Trustees, including Fox News hosts Dan Scavino and Maria Bartiromo, as well as second lady Usha Vance and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Numerous artists have canceled planned Kennedy Center performances under Trump.
