The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and its board of directors, chaired by Riverton resident Ruby Calvert, sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for firing three members of the board.
The organization alleged in its lawsuit that it is a private entity that does not fall under President Donald Trump’s authority, according to a statement.
“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not a government entity, and its board members are not government officers,” the statement reads. “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.”
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Calvert declined to comment when contacted by Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday, citing the advice of the board’s attorneys.
Public broadcasting is a particular target of the Trump administration and many conservatives because of a perception that National Public Radio and PBS produce taxpayer-funded content that showcases a liberal bias.
Three CPB board members, all of whom are Democrats, received an email on Monday asserting that Trump had fired them. Their removal leaves only two board members remaining. Before their removal, there were already four vacant seats on the board.
Calvert, a Republican, was not removed. She was nominated by Trump for the board in 2018 and reconfirmed by former President Joe Biden in 2022.
The email sent by Trent Morse, the deputy director of presidential personnel for the executive office of the president, notified the board members on behalf of Trump that their positions were terminated effective immediately but offered no additional explanation for why.
In its suit, the CPB requested a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration for the board member’s removal.
A hearing was held on the matter Tuesday afternoon, where U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss directed the government to file its opposition to the board's request for a temporary restraining order by May 6, directed the board to respond by May 9, and scheduled a hearing for May 14.
Can They Do That?
Although Trump can unquestionably pressure Congress to defund public broadcasting, it’s less clear whether or not he can remove its board members.
The White House believes Trump can remove these board members.
“As numerous courts have repeatedly affirmed, the Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority,” White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers said in a statement. “The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
The administration has criticized the fact that taxpayer dollars have flowed to content to which it has objected, such as an NPR article with facts about “queer animals” and a PBS documentary about a transgender teenager.
CPB board members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with members serving six-year terms. The CPB board however appoints the president and CEO of their organization.
When Congress created the CPB in 1967, the organization was intended to be “insulated from partisan governmental interference and control,” according to the suit, and Congress expressly forbade any federal employee from having any control over it.
“CPB’s board members are essential to the governance of CPB, which supports more than 1,500 independent, locally owned and operated public television and radio stations that provide universal access to free, high-quality content that educates, informs, and enlightens,” the statement reads.
In the suit, the board members said they have “legitimate concerns that the attempts to remove their board members is the first step in an effort to seize CPB property.
The Trump administration has terminated board members at other congressionally-created organizations, such as the U.S Institute of Peace.
Trump issued an executive order in February that targeted the institute and three other agencies for closure in an effort to deliver on his campaign promises to shrink the size of the federal government.
The institute and many of its board members sued the Trump administration, but this did not stop the Department of Government Efficiency from taking over their building, transferring out its assets, walking several of its board members out of the building, and firing nearly all of its employees.
Funding Cuts
Earlier this month, the White House confirmed it plans to soon ask Congress to pull back more than $1 billion in public broadcasting funding, a move that could eliminate nearly all federal support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS.
If this cut in funding is approved, it would have a significant impact on Public Radio and PBS stations in Wyoming.
Within CPB’s $535 million annual budget, 70% — or $375 million of that — goes directly to local public television and radio stations in community service grants.
Another 25% supports station services through funding for blanket music and visual rights, streaming rights, building common content management systems, professional development, programming, program research, Ken Burns documentaries and other prime time series. About 5% is expended on administrative costs.
Wyoming PBS relies heavily on community service grants, Calvert told Cowboy State Daily earlier this month.
“While large market stations may not need the CPB grants as much as small stations, nearly half of our public media stations are smaller, or mid-sized rural markets, and if they are not funded and can’t pay for national programs such as ‘Nova,’ ‘Nature,’ ‘Masterpiece,’ and the children’s programming, then large markets, which largely produce those programs, will start to see their budgets implode,” Calvert said.
“Public media funding is kind of like a house of cards — you pull away the base, and it is hard to keep the house standing," she said.
Local stations also retain the right to air or not air anything that comes from PBS or NPR, or any other program source. PBS does not produce any of its programming but rather curates and distributes, selecting and feeding programs from many sources to its stations.
“Local station management makes the decisions about what programming meets the needs of their communities,” Calvert said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
