Judge Blocks Trump Order to Defund NPR and PBS

NPR and PBS Win Big: Judge Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Defund Public Media

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled the 2025 order violated the First Amendment, a move praised by Jane Fonda and free press advocates.

Aisha Palmer

Apr 1, 2026, 5:44 AM PT · 1 min read

THE RUNDOWN

Judge Randolph Moss blocked a 2025 executive order aimed at defunding NPR and PBS.
The court found the order violated First Amendment protections against viewpoint discrimination.
Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment called the ruling a victory for press freedom.
A separate $1.1 billion Congressional funding cut to the CPB is not affected.
The ruling prevents executive retaliation but does not restore legislatively rescinded funds.

Public broadcasting has secured a major legal victory in federal court. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss has officially blocked a 2025 executive order by Donald Trump that aimed to strip funding from NPR and PBS. The judge ruled that the order was unlawful, stating it constituted a clear violation of the First Amendment’s protections against viewpoint discrimination.

The decision drew immediate praise from Hollywood icon Jane Fonda. Speaking through her Committee for the First Amendment, Fonda described the ruling as a necessary rejection of government retaliation against a free press. While she celebrated the court's intervention, Fonda cautioned that the entertainment and news industries must remain vigilant, noting that efforts to erode media independence are far from over.

Despite this legal win, the financial outlook for public media remains complicated. Judge Moss’s ruling specifically targets the executive order but does not reverse a separate action by Congress. A prior legislative rescission of $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) remains in effect, leaving a significant gap in the long-term budgets for local and national public stations.