A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from carrying out an executive order that sought to cut off federal funding to the National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, ruling the directive violated constitutional free speech protections.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said President Donald Trump executive order to terminate funding to NPR and PBS was “unlawful and unenforceable,” finding it amounted to retaliation based on the outlets’ perceived viewpoints.
“The First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type,” Moss wrote in his decision, adding that the government cannot use funding power to punish speech it disfavors.
Trump signed the executive order in May 2025, directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal entities to end both direct and indirect funding for NPR and PBS. The administration argued the move was necessary to stop taxpayer support for what it described as partisan coverage.
In his decision, Moss said the federal government failed to provide any legal precedent allowing it to exclude an organization from federal funding based on past speech.
“The Federal Defendants fail to cite a single case in which a court has ever upheld a statute or executive action that bars a particular person or entity from participating in any federally funded activity based on that person or entity’s past speech,” Moss said.
The case sits against the backdrop of a broader upheaval in public broadcasting. Congress moved to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn dissolved the board that distributed federal funds to NPR, PBS, and local stations.
The corporation’s loss in federal funding was affected by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by Trump in July 2025. The law repealed $1.1 billion allocated for public broadcasting through fiscal 2027, forcing the corporation to wind down operations by the end of September 2026.
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Attorneys for NPR welcomed the ruling Tuesday, calling it a victory for press freedom and a clear affirmation that the government cannot use financial leverage to influence or punish journalistic expression.
The Trump administration still has the opportunity to appeal the ruling.