LEILA FADEL, HOST:
A federal judge has ruled that President Trump violated the First Amendment when he issued an executive order last May to end federal funding for public broadcasting, including NPR and PBS. That order also prompted Congress to claw back about $1.1 billion given to public broadcasters that had already been appropriated through 2027. Here to talk with me about this is NPR's Scott Neuman. And before we start, I'll note that under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive at NPR has reviewed our reporting. Scott, good morning.
SCOTT NEUMAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So what was in the ruling?
NEUMAN: Well, it was pretty unambiguous. Randolph Moss, the U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, said that Trump's executive order amounted to an unconstitutional violation of free speech. He said the First Amendment draws a line at efforts to use government power, including the power of the purse, to punish or suppress disfavored expression by others. In essence, Trump didn't like the content from NPR and PBS, calling it left-wing, and sought to use that as a reason to end five decades of federal funding for public broadcasting. Now, Judge Moss, who was appointed by President Obama, said, quote, "it is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the president does not like and seeks to squelch."
FADEL: What have the parties in the case said about the ruling?
NEUMAN: Tami Graham is the executive director of KSUT in Ignacio, Colorado. It's one of three public broadcasters who are plaintiffs in the suit against Trump.
TAMI GRAHAM: My reaction was excitement, vindication that justice had prevailed.
NEUMAN: Now, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson sent us an email calling the ruling ridiculous and an unlawful decision by an activist judge. She said NPR and PBS have no right to taxpayer funds.
FADEL: I mean, for me, the big question on my mind is - do NPR, PBS, their member stations, get the money back?
NEUMAN: Well, the $1.1 billion that Congress took back and that the networks and their member stations had been anticipating for their operating expenses through the end of the next fiscal year isn't going to magically come back. But as it stands, it does mean that a future Congress - one that is more friendly to public broadcasting - could reinstate federal funding for public broadcasting. Here's Theodore Boutrous, the lawyer who represented NPR.
THEODORE BOUTROUS: Congress could at any point restore funding. They would likely need the president to sign off on it. And so with the current president, given his views about this, that's a whole other issue.
FADEL: OK. So what happens next?
NEUMAN: Well, in the statement I referenced earlier, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration looks forward to, quote, "ultimate victory," which Boutrous takes as a pretty clear sign that the administration will appeal this ruling. If so, it would go next to the D.C. Circuit Court. In First Amendment cases, the D.C. Circuit has ruled in the past against government attempts to police speech. So this is two steps ahead and speculative, but it could potentially wind up before the Supreme Court.
FADEL: That's NPR's Scott Neuman. Thank you, Scott.
NEUMAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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