NPR lawsuit alleges Corporation for Public Broadcasting gave in to political pressure
Source: NPR
October 27, 2025 6:26 AM ET
The chasm is widening between NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that funneled federal dollars to public media until Congress killed that funding earlier this year. NPR's legal team privately questioned the CPB's longtime chief executive, Patricia Harrison, under oath earlier this month, according to the radio network's legal filings, and is scheduled to do so publicly at a court hearing Tuesday morning.
In court documents, NPR has presented evidence to bolster its case that the board of the nonprofit corporation first approved a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract for NPR to operate a satellite distribution system for public radio stations. Then, NPR alleges, CPB unlawfully yielded to political pressure by yanking the contract just days after President Trump warned that NPR should receive no more federal dollars. NPR contends it is yet one more example of a major institution yielding to the president's whim.
CPB rejects that, saying that it awarded the contract to a different group to better serve the nation's diverse array of public radio stations. NPR and CPB each declined comment for this story, citing the litigation. The two institutions — along with PBS — have stood together at the core of public media for more than a half century. They formed a united front, at least publicly, as they lobbied lawmakers against clawing back the $1.1 billion already approved by Congress and signed into law by the president for the broader public media system.
More than 60 years after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 into law, Congress is voting on whether to take back federal funding already promised for the public media system. The Republican majority has accused PBS and NPR of left-leaning bias and being a waste of taxpayer funds. Behind the scenes, however, CPB and PBS officials signaled they would not object to pulling funding for NPR, which has drawn the lion's share of Republicans' accusations of liberal bias.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/27/nx-s1-5586147/npr-cpb-lawsuit-political-pressure
Link to FILING (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26197555-partial-motion-for-preliminary-injunction-and-for-summary-judgment/
Link to FILING (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26197555/partial-motion-for-preliminary-injunction-and-for-summary-judgment.pdf
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