A federal judge on Sunday declined to issue an order to prohibit Donald Trump from removing three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as the administration seeks to zero out funding for public media stations, PBS and NPR.
In declining to issue a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote that the CPB had failed to meet the threshold to halt Trump’s effort to remove Sony’s Tom Rothman, as well as Laura Ross and Diane Kaplan.
Moss wrote, “Although the case presents important questions regarding the status of the Corporation and its relationship with the federal government, the Court must leave those questions for another day. For present purposes and on the present record, it is enough to conclude that Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden of demonstrating that they are likely to prevail on the merits of their claim for injunctive relief or that Plaintiffs are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief.”
Read the judge’s public broadcasting decision.
The CPB is the nonprofit corporation set up by Congress to distribute funds to public media, largely radio and TV stations.
The CPB sued the Trump administration in April, after three board members got notices that they were being removed. The CPB cited the Public Broadcasting Act, which forbids “any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States” from exercising “any direction, supervision, or control over . . . the Corporation.”
PBS and NPR have filed their own lawsuits against the Trump administration over the president’s executive order to restrict further funding for their networks.
More to come.
