PBS sues Trump over federal funding cuts

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) sued the Trump administration over budget cuts. The core of the lawsuit is that both the president and other officials are directly violating the First Amendment to the detriment of the public television network. This court action came just days after National Public Radio (NPR) did the same.

According to the text of the lawsuit, which was filed Friday, "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 president signed an executive order to end state funding to PBS and NPR in early May. He argued that the idea of the federal government sustaining media outlets was "outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence." "Neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens," Trump added.

Until the aforementioned executive order, both media outlets received partial funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), an entity the White House finds to be obsolete.

In this context, the PBS lawsuit argues that Trump's actions violate the First Amendment, since he "makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is cutting off the flow of funds to PBS because of the content of PBS programming and out of a desire to alter the content of speech."

"That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations’ private editorial discretion," the text adds.

The lawsuit also includes Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The White House response

The Trump Administration responded publicly to PBS's arguments. "The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) 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," Deputy Press Secretary Harrison 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," he added.