Corporation for Public Broadcasting Sues Against DJT’s Attempt to Fire Majority of Its Board

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting filed a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump’s attempt to fire the majority of its board.

The suit was filed in the morning. In the afternoon, federal District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss held an initial hearing on the matter. He ordered both sides to provide him with information in regard to CPB’s motion for a temporary restraining order, which would bar Trump’s firings from taking effect while the full lawsuit is being heard.

Trump targeted for removal

• Tom Rothman, appointed by President Joe Biden
• Diane Kaplan, appointed by Biden
• Laura Gore Ross, appointed by Trump in his first term and reappointed by Biden.

If allowed to stand, Trump’s firings would leave CPB’s board without a quorum so it would be unable to operate.

This move echoes the way Trump took over boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and U.S. Institute of Peace. At the former, Trump replaced board members and named himself chairman. He shut down the latter and allowed Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” to transfer all its assets elsewhere for no consideration.

They were structured differently from CPB. Kennedy Center was set up as a public-private partnership. USIP was an independent non-profit in which the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State held seats on the board.

Each year CPB provides a total of more than $500 million to public broadcasters. Public Broadcasting System and its television stations each receive an average of 15% of their revenues from CPB. National Public Radio stations get an average of 10% of their funds from CPB. The central body of NPR gets about 1% directly from CPB, plus a small amount of indirect funding in the form of fees its individual stations pay to air programs from central NPR. Other public broadcasters, mainly in television and radio, also receive some CPB funding.

CPB was created by Congress more than 50 years ago. By law, the President can appoint members of its board in consultation with leaders from both parties in the Senate.

Most federal agencies are created with a clause specifying their board member “serve at the pleasure of the President.” CPB was created without that clause. Instead, the law specified CPB “will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government” and includes features to “afford the maximum protection from extraneous interference and control.” The law explicitly declares no officers or employees of the federal government can serve on the CPB board and no board member can be regarded as a federal employee. This protects the independence of public broadcasting from pressure to become a political mouthpiece.

CPB issued a statement which included;

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not a government entity, and its board members are not government officers. Because CPB is not a federal agency subject to the President’s authority, but rather a private corporation, we have filed a lawsuit to block these firings.

Click here for more details.