UPDATED, with comment from CPB: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting said that three members will remain on its board, even though a federal judge turned down their motion to block Donald Trump from firing them.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote that the CPB had failed to meet the threshold to issue a preliminary injunction to halt Trump’s effort to remove Sony’s Tom Rothman, as well as Laura Ross and Diane Kaplan.
But in his decision, Moss cautioned that Trump still would not be able to wrest control of the board, and also noted that the corporation had recently changed its bylaws that restricts the president’s actions.
The judge wrote that “the president is not free to remove directors and then unilaterally to appoint their replacements, thereby using his power to remove as an effective tool for altering Board policy. Rather, the President’s appointment authority is tempered by the requirement that he proceed only with the advice and consent of the Senate.”
Read the judge’s public broadcasting decision.
The CPB is the nonprofit corporation set up by Congress to distribute funds to public media, largely radio and TV stations.
The CPB sued the Trump administration in April, after three board members got notices that they were being removed. The CPB cited the Public Broadcasting Act, which forbids “any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States” from exercising “any direction, supervision, or control over . . . the Corporation.”
At a court hearing in the case last month, Moss suggested that the CPB could change its bylaws to try to put further safeguards in place to maintain its independence. The CPB did just that, and the new bylaws read, “No Director may be removed from the Board by any person or authority, including the President of the United States, without a two-thirds vote of the other Directors confirming such removal. In the event the Corporation’s President appoints one or more members of the Designated Body, such members may not be removed from the Designated Body by any person or authority, including the President of the United States, without a two-thirds vote of the other Directors and serving members of the Designated Body confirming such removal.”
Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the CPB, said in a statement that they “are pleased that the court recognized CPB’s independent, non-profit corporation, free from governmental control or influence, and CPB, board and management, looks forward to continuing our work with policymakers and other stakeholders to ensure accurate, unbiased and non-partisan public media is available for all Americans.”
The CPB said that Ross, Rothman and Kaplan “are, remain, and shall continue” members of the CPB board.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
PBS and NPR have filed their own lawsuits against the Trump administration over the president’s executive order to restrict further funding for their networks.
Rothman, Ross and Kaplan are among the five current CPB board members, while there are four vacancies. The board members are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. Rothman, Ross and Kaplan are still in the midst of their six-year terms.
Moss, an appointee of President Barack Obama, wrote that one of the arguments presented by CPB lawyers was “novel,” that removal of a board member also required Senate approval.
CPB attorneys also argued that the president was an “officer” of the United States, and therefore was restricted from exercising control over the corporation.
Moss wrote that he needs “not resolve that question here. For present purposes, the Court can assume (as seems likely) that Congress intended to preclude the President (or any subordinate officials acting at his direction) from directing, supervising, or controlling the Corporation. But Congress did provide the President with appointment power, and that authority carries with it at least some ability to influence the affairs of the Corporation.”
Still, Moss noted that the CPB is governed not just by the Public Broadcasting Act, but the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act and its own incorporation and bylaws.
The judge wrote that “to the extent the President might have had the authority unilaterally to remove directors before this suit was brought, the Board has now taken a step that, in all likelihood, would prevent any such action: it has amended its bylaws to require Board concurrence, as permitted under the D.C. Nonprofit Corporation Act. And beyond that, even if the President were to do so, and even if his action were effective, the Corporation would not be without a meaningful remedy, which would permit it to continue to operate.”
Perhaps more urgent for public media advocates is a pending congressional vote on whether the $535 million in annual federal funding to public broadcasting should be clawed back.
The White House last week sent a package to Capitol Hill to rescind the funding for CPB in fiscal year 2026 and 2027. The corporation gets an advanced appropriation from Congress, so the money for those years already was allocated.
The post Judge Denies Corporation For Public Broadcasting’s Motion In Trump Case, But Ruling Still Allows For Three Board Members To Remain — Update appeared first on Deadline.
