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PBS Sues Trump Over Order to Cut Funding

NYT > Business > Media · Benjamin Mullin · last updated

PBS sued President Trump on Friday to block an executive order that would cut federal funding for public television and radio, arguing that it was unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by PBS and a public TV station in Minnesota, says Mr. Trump’s order violates laws that “forbid the president from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.”

“The executive order makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is cutting off the flow of funds to PBS because of the content of PBS programming and out of a desire to alter the content of speech,” the lawsuit says. “That is blatant viewpoint discrimination.”

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