Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Order Defunding NPR, PBS

A federal judge in Washington ruled on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's executive order to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service violates the First Amendment, permanently blocking its implementation.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss declared the directive unlawful and unenforceable, stating it amounted to viewpoint discrimination and retaliation against the organizations for their content. "It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch," Moss wrote in his opinion. The order, issued earlier, instructed all federal agencies to withhold any funding from NPR, headquartered in Washington, and PBS, based in Arlington, Virginia, regardless of program merits or funding sources.

Moss, appointed by former President Barack Obama, emphasized that no court precedent supports barring entities from federal benefits based on their past speech. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by NPR and PBS, which argued the order punished them for their journalism. The organizations contended that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which...