NPR Uses Conservative Supreme Court Justice's Words Against Donald Trump

Newsweek

27-05-2025

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A lawsuit filed Tuesday by National Public Radio (NPR) against the Trump administration quotes words scribed by former conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia nearly 40 years ago.
Why It Matters
The lawsuit, which includes three Colorado public radio stations as plaintiffs, challenges President Donald Trump's executive order signed on May 1, which called for ceasing congressionally approved federal funding for NPR and PBS.
"The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Newsweek on Tuesday. "Therefore, the president is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS.
"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."
What To Know
On the sixth page of the 43-page suit, plaintiffs cite the words of Scalia from his dissent in the June 1988 decision Morrison v. Olson: "It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. 'But this wolf comes as a wolf.'"
People participate in a rally to call on Congress to protect funding for US public broadcasters, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), outside the NPR headquarters in Washington, DC, on March 26,...
People participate in a rally to call on Congress to protect funding for US public broadcasters, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), outside the NPR headquarters in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. More
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
That case determined that the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, a federal law passed after the Watergate scandal, was constitutional. Scalia argued for the separation of powers, claiming the law deprives the president of "exclusive control."
"Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep's clothing: the potential of the asserted principle to effect important change in the equilibrium of power is not immediately evident, and must be discerned by a careful and perceptive analysis," Scalia wrote in his dissent. "But this wolf comes as a wolf."
Plaintiffs argue that Trump's executive order "violates the expressed will of Congress and the First Amendment's bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association, and also threatens the existence of a public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information."
The three Colorado-based news stations are Aspen Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, and KSUT Public Radio.
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., a partner at Gibson Dunn and counsel for NPR, told Newsweek on Tuesday that Trump's executive order "is blatantly unconstitutional."
"It contravenes the will of Congress and violates the constitutional rights of NPR and its member stations," Boutrous said. "The Public Broadcasting Act and the First Amendment both protect the editorial independence of NPR and local public radio stations that receive federal funding from precisely this kind of governmental interference.
"And, by seeking to halt federal funding to NPR, the executive order harms not only NPR and its member stations, but also the tens of millions of Americans across the country who rely on them for news and cultural programming, and vital emergency information."
The suit references Trump's past statements about NPR and PBS, including that their news and other content is not "fair, accurate, or unbiased." The president has also said that they spread "radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'"
NPR CEO Katherine Maher, in a statement issued Tuesday, called Trump's executive order an "affront" to NPR and its 246 locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial member stations across all 50 states and territories.
Attorney Bradford Cohen, who has represented Trump as a client, told Newsweek that lawsuits against Trump traditionally fall by the wayside and "for the most part" are unsuccessful against him and his policies.
"I think the lawsuit lacks substance and teeth and is most likely for press purposes. ... I believe with the current case law this lawsuit is ripe for a motion to dismiss," Cohen said. "I am sure the president is apprised of the lawsuits filed against the administration, and the DOJ takes a very aggressive stance in terms of dealing with them.
"I wouldn't be surprised if NPR ends up in a worse legal position than they are currently facing."
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani views the suit differently, saying that the First Amendment argument at the core of the litigation is probably NPR's best legal avenue forward.
"I do think NPR does have a very strong argument," Rahmani told Newsweek. "These similar cases have been winning in the courts, and I expect NPR to win as well."
He said other factors that could impact the case include the appropriations clause in the Constitution, which essentially states that Congress has "the power of the purse."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump on Truth Social in April: "NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM! EDITOR SAID THEY HAVE NO REPUBLICANS, AND IS ONLY USED TO 'DAMAGE TRUMP.'" THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!"
Katherine Maher, CEO of NPR, in a statement on Tuesday: "This is retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled numerous times over the past 80 years that the government does not have the right to determine what counts as 'biased.' NPR will never agree to this infringement of our constitutional rights, or the constitutional rights of our Member stations, and NPR will not compromise our commitment to an independent free press and journalistic integrity."
PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, earlier this month: "The president's blatantly unlawful executive order...threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years."
What Happens Next
The lawsuit seeks to dismiss Trump's executive order as unlawful and unconstitutional.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that episodes of the longtime popular PBS children's show Sesame Street will begin airing on Netflix later this year.