The Corporation for Public Broadcasting settled with NPR on Monday, agreeing to restore a nearly $36 million contract for satellite infrastructure funding with the public radio network.
Under the agreement, CPB will disburse congressionally appropriated funds to NPR to continue operating the Public Radio Satellite System over the next five years. In return, NPR dropped its claims against CPB filed in federal court as part of a broader lawsuit against the Trump administration for an executive order targeting NPR. Additionally, NPR said it would waive fees it levies from public radio stations for accessing its satellite services for the next two years.
The agreement resolves a dispute that began in September, when CPB said it would redirect satellite interconnection money away from NPR to Public Media Infrastructure (PMI), a newly formed nonprofit backed by other public radio organizations. NPR immediately sued, arguing the move was illegal and violated the Public Broadcasting Act. It alleged that the decision to redirect funds was made under pressure from the Trump White House, a claim CPB has disputed.
“The settlement is a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR,” NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher said. “While we entered into this dispute with CPB reluctantly, we’re glad to resolve it in a way that enables us to continue to provide for the stability of the Public Radio Satellite System, offer immediate and direct support to public radio stations across the country, and proceed with our strong and substantive claims against this illegal and unconstitutional Executive Order.”
Patricia Harrison, the president and CEO of CPB, called the settlement an “important moment” for the public media ecosystem. “We are very pleased that this costly and unnecessary litigation is over, and that our investment in the future through PMI marks an exciting new era for public media,” she wrote in a statement.
NPR’s broader constitutional challenge to Trump’s executive order continues, with a hearing scheduled for Dec. 4 before U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss.
In May, President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing CPB to halt all funding to NPR and PBS, saying that taxpayers should not have to fund “biased media.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which for decades has doled out congressional funds to public media stations as well as national entities like NPR and PBS, recently laid off most of its staff and is largely shutting down operations following the Trump administration’s successful push this summer for Congress to rescind $1.1 billion in funding to public media.
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