'President has no authority...': NPR sues Trump administration over order to cut public funding

Public broadcaster NPR said on Tuesday it had sued the Trump administration, challenging the president's executive order to cut federal funding for NPR and fellow broadcaster PBS.

NPR, along with other other public radio organizations, filed a lawsuit in Washington's federal court, stating that the President's order violated the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech.

“The President has no authority under the Constitution to take such actions,” the lawsuit said. “On the contrary, the power of the purse is reserved to Congress.”

The move follows Trump signing an executive order on Thursday to cut public funding for NPR and PBS, accusing the news outlets of being biased in his latest attack on traditional media.

Trump in his executive order instructed the CPB Board of Directors and all executive departments and agencies "to cease Federal funding" for NPR and CBS.

He added that "neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens."

The CPB budget has already been approved by Congress through 2027, which raises questions about the scope of Trump's order.

Politico magazine described the order as "the White House’s biggest escalation yet in its assault on the media" and said it would likely be challenged in court.

The White House published on Thursday a fact sheet titled "President Donald J. Trump Ends the Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media."

It said that NPR and PBS "have fueled partisanship and left-wing propaganda with taxpayer dollars, which is highly inappropriate and an improper use of taxpayers’ money."

To support this accusation, the document listed a number of claims about the two media outlets, which it said receive "tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year."

For example, that "over a six-month period, PBS News Hour used versions of the term 'far-right' 162 times, but 'far-left' only 6 times," the White House said.

It cited research -- from an unnamed source -- that showed that congressional Republicans have received far more negative media coverage than Democrats.

The fact sheet also listed an NPR feature about "queer animals," and on PBS the appearance of a "drag queen" on a kid's show and a movie "which celebrates a transgender teen's transition."