22 State Attorneys General Support NPR, PBS

Twenty-two state attorneys general have filed a 41-page amicus brief on Friday, urging a federal judge to support PBS and NPR in their legal battle against the Trump administration’s efforts to defund the public media networks through an executive order. The attorneys general argue that the order, issued on May 1, is unlawful and threatens the vital role of public media.

The executive order claims PBS and NPR fail to provide “fair, accurate, or unbiased” reporting and directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and federal agencies to halt their funding. In response, PBS and a Minnesota-based subsidiary filed a lawsuit, calling the directive an “unprecedented” threat to public television. The 22 states now back this lawsuit, emphasizing the importance of public media.

The brief highlights that many states host partnerships with schools, colleges, and universities through public media affiliates, which deliver widely viewed educational, documentary, and news content. It argues that the CPB, established by Congress in 1967 to create PBS and NPR, must be upheld, as the executive branch lacks authority to unilaterally defund them.

“Only Congress, with its power of the purse, can decide public media funding,” the brief states. “The Executive Order is ultra vires and violates the First Amendment.” It further notes that NPR and PBS provide critical emergency alerts, including weather and disaster warnings, often using resilient infrastructure that private broadcasters cannot replicate.

The attorneys general conclude that public media fosters public trust and connects communities through essential services, from education to life-saving alerts. Defunding it, they warn, would erode trust and leave many Americans isolated.