Judge rules Trump's executive order to kill PBS, NPR unconstitutional

President Trump's attempt to wipe out funding for PBS, NPR, and local broadcasters because he perceived these networks as liberal has been deemed illegal by a federal judge. 

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  March 31, 2026 | 3:38pm
Courtesy of PBS, NPR
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Judge rules Trump's executive order to kill PBS, NPR unconstitutional

The Free Speech President has been dealt another blow against his attempts to limit free speech. Per Deadline, a federal judge has deemed President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14290, the one that kneecapped PBS and NPR and killed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in an effort to silence speech he dislikes, unconstitutional. Ironically, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss cited the 2024 case The National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, in which the New York State Department of Financial Services attempted to coerce insurance and financial institutions into cutting ties with the NRA. “The First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power—including the power of the purse—’to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others,” he wrote. Trump’s EO, Judge Moss ruled, “singles out two speakers and, based on their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs.” There are reasons for cutting off funding, he continued, but the President’s perception of these outlets as “Radical Left Monsters” can’t be one of them. 

Last summer, amid ramming his Big Beautiful Bill through Congress, House Republicans voted to rescind $1.1 billion in previously allocated funding to public broadcasters. The ruling effectively killed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the organization responsible for distributing these funds to local broadcasters that provide invaluable resources to communities around the country. In addition to preserving local arts and culture, which we thought these guys were all about, these local stations provide local news, emergency alerts, and public safety notifications. 

“The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news,” Judge Moss ruled. “Because the First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type, the Court will issue judgment against the federal-agency defendants declaring Section 3(a) of the Executive Order is unconstitutional and will issue an injunction barring those defendants from implementing it.”

This won’t immediately undo the EO’s consequences or return the previously allocated money to the organizations it was previously allocated for. It’s one of those all-American incremental wins, which has yet to deal with the legislative body whose finger was on the trigger: Congress. Still, the Plaintiff’s attorney Theodore Boutrous sees it as “a victory for the First Amendment and for freedom of the press.” It’s a much-needed win for PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and viewers like you.

 

 
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