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PBS isn’t going along with Trump’s strongman play, and the network that made history with children’s programs like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street is standing up for the Constitution as Trump tries to take away their funding.
According to the lawsuit:
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.
Indeed, since Congress laid the foundations for the growth of public television over 50 years ago, it has repeatedly protected the flow of federal funds from political interference by filtering them through a non-federal, non-profit, and nonpartisan entity—the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (“CPB”)—and by providing for long-term appropriations. Lest there be any doubt that the Executive Branch should have no power to influence CPB’s decision-making, Congress enacted a specific “[p]rohibition”: no “department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States” may “exercise any direction, supervision, or control over public telecommunications, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees”—including with respect to “the content or distribution of public telecommunications programs and services.” 47 U.S.C. § 398(a), (c) (emphases added).
The EO violates not only those straightforward statutory restrictions but also the First Amendment. The EO 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 EO also seeks to impose an unconstitutional condition on PBS Member Stations’ receipt of federal funds by prohibiting them from using federal funds to access PBS programming and services. And the EO smacks of retaliation for, among other things, perceived political slights in news coverage. That all transgresses the First Amendment’s protection of both speech and freedom of the press.
PBS isn’t suing the Trump administration or an agency. PBS is naming the president himself and members of his administration in their lawsuit.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private company. Trump is trying to control and defund a private company.
Trump’s actions are the height of undemocratic behavior. PBS is literally free media. People don’t have to pay to watch PBS. Americans don’t need a television or internet subscription to watch PBS.
The Public Broadcasting System is one unifying form of media that is non-partisan and available to all, which is why Trump wants to destroy it.
Whether it is purging White House transcripts or not providing details on administration activities, a goal of Trump’s presidency is to restrict the flow of information to keep people less informed.
PBS plays a vital role in informing and educating Americans of all ages, and their resistance to Trump’s power grab is vitally important to democracy and American society.
What do you think about PBS’s lawsuit against Trump? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.
