18 May 2025

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Amends Bylaws to Defend Against DJT

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting acted upon a suggestion from federal District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss in a hearing on its case against Donald Trump, amending its bylaws to make it harder for anyone to easily replace its board members in a takeover attempt.

Moss remarked in the hearing that CPB’s board could “protect itself if it wanted to be protected.” CPB could “simply say in its bylaws that someone can only be removed with the concurrence of the majority of the board, and they just didn’t do that.”

Taking the heavy hint, CPB amended its bylaws so that they now include:

No Director may be removed from the Board by any person or authority, including the President of the United States, without a two-thirds vote of the other Directors confirming such removal. In the event the Corporation’s President appoints one or more members of the Designated Body, such members may not be removed from the Designated Body by any person or authority, including the President of the United States, without a two-thirds vote of the other Directors and serving members of the Designated Body confirming such removal.

In court, CPB’s stance is, “When Congress created the CPB, it stated clearly that the CPB is not ‘an agency or establishment of the United States Government.’” If that is true, the President does not have authority to replace its board members at will.

The Department of Justice says CPB was created by the federal government to serve purposes of the government, the federal government appoints its board, and its main funding comes from federal government. DOJ also says law in the District of Columbia allows the person who appoints a director to remove that director. “Any way you slice it, under executive removal precedents or under D.C. corporate law, the President’s power to remove CPB Board members at will is incident to his power to appoint them.”

Moss intends to decide the preliminary injunction request before the next CPB board meeting, which is scheduled in June.

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