The head of PBS said Friday that President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to public broadcasting institutions PBS and NPR was blatantly unlawful. NPR’s chief also vowed to challenge the decision.
Public Broadcasting Service CEO Paula Kerger said the Republican president’s order “threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years.”
“We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans,” Kerger said.
Trump signed the order late Thursday, alleging “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting.
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to “cease Federal funding” for PBS and National Public Radio and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’”