Trump signed EO 14290 directing CPB to cease all federal funding to NPR and PBS

On May 1, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14290, titled "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media," directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease all direct and indirect federal funding to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. The order required every federal agency to identify and terminate existing direct or indirect contracts and grants with NPR and PBS, and mandated that CPB revise its 2025 grant criteria by June 30, 2025 to prohibit grantees from using federal funds for either organization. The stated justification was that "neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens."

CPB was established under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 as an independent nonprofit corporation, explicitly structured to insulate public media from political pressure; the statute does not grant the president authority to direct its funding decisions. CPB's board declined to comply with the order. NPR, PBS, and CPB executives each stated the order was unlawful, and NPR along with three public radio stations sued the Trump administration in May 2025, arguing a First Amendment violation. A federal district judge permanently blocked EO 14290 on March 31, 2026, ruling it unenforceable.

The executive order framed public media defunding as a content-based editorial judgment — characterizing NPR and PBS coverage as politically unacceptable — and used that characterization as the legal basis for withdrawing congressionally established funding. By conditioning public media's access to federal support on presidential approval of editorial content, the order treats the administration's view of news coverage as a lawful criterion for funding termination, inverting the independence rationale Congress built into the CPB's charter.