Fri May 30 23:43:57 UTC 2025: **PBS Sues Trump Administration Over Defunding Order, Citing Bias**
**Washington, D.C.** – Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and several administration officials, challenging an executive order that seeks to eliminate federal funding for the 330-station public television network. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, follows a similar legal action taken by National Public Radio (NPR) earlier in the week after also having its federal funding cut.
PBS argues that Trump is overstepping his authority and engaging in “viewpoint discrimination,” claiming his stated reason of bias in PBS’s news coverage against conservatives is unconstitutional.
“PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms,” stated PBS lawyer Z W Julius Chen in the suit. “But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.”
The lawsuit highlights the potential devastating impact of the defunding on PBS and its member stations, particularly for stations like Lakeland PBS in northern and central Minnesota, which serves rural areas and relies heavily on federal funding. The lawsuit states the defunding is an “existential threat” to the station, and states it threatens the Lakeland Learns education programme and Lakeland News, described in the lawsuit as the only television programme in the region providing local news, weather and sports.
According to PBS, 22 percent of its revenue comes directly from federal sources, while 61 percent of its budget is funded through individual station dues, with those stations raising the bulk of that money from the government. The U.S. Department of Education has already cancelled a $78 million grant to PBS for educational programming, impacting popular children’s shows like Sesame Street.
The lawsuit names several administration officials as defendants, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. PBS also emphasizes its role in providing critical backup for the nationwide wireless emergency alert system.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields defended the President’s order, stating that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides $325 million annually to PBS, is “creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime.”
“Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS,” Fields said. “The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.”
This legal challenge is the latest in a series of clashes between the Trump administration and media organizations, including disputes over press access and investigations into television news divisions. The administration has also been criticized for its treatment of government-run news services like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
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