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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order late Thursday directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to halt both direct and indirect federal funding for public broadcasters NPR and PBS.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Donald J. Trump, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), National Public Radio (NPR), Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
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📍 Where & When: The Executive Order was signed by President Trump late on Thursday, May 1.
💬 Key Quote: The Trump White House contends NPR and PBS are “entities that receive tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.'”
⚠️ Impact: The action eliminates federal financial support for NPR and PBS. Currently, direct federal funding accounts for about one percent of NPR’s budget and 15 percent of PBS’s, plus further funding by indirect means.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump issued a new Executive Order late Thursday that ceases federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The order directs the government-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to halt all direct and indirect support for the two public broadcasters, contending they are “entities that receive tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.'”
“No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize. The CPB’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not ‘contribute to or otherwise support any political party,'” the Executive Order states, arguing: “The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS. Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
The presidential directive instructs “the CPB Board of Directors (CPB Board) and all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS.” Specifically, the CPB has been told to halt all indirect federal funding for public broadcasters, including ancillary funding for “licensees and permittees of public radio and television stations.” Additionally, the executive order directs the heads of other federal agencies to “identify and terminate, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, any direct or indirect funding of NPR and PBS.”
Both NPR and PBS have been embroiled in recent media controversies, facing allegations of partisan political bias in their news coverage. In March, the current NPR CEO, Kathrene Maher, admitted while testifying before Congress that the publicly funded broadcaster failed to adequately cover the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020. “I do want to say that NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner,” Maher said, noting she was tapped to lead the public broadcaster well after the controversy.
In April last year, NPR faced internal pushback from veteran editor Uri Berliner, who published a scathing criticism of the news organization in The Free Press. Berliner alleged that NPR had abandoned any pretense of objective journalism and instead had become a willing mouthpiece for partisan propaganda pushed by the likes of Democrat lawmaker Adam Schiff (D-CA). After receiving a five-day suspension from Maher over the commentary, Berliner resigned from his role as an editor with NPR, stating: “I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay.”
Meanwhile, PBS falsely reported last year that President Trump wants to ‘purge’ LGBTQ people from America. During a news segment, PBS anchor William Brangham claimed that Trump planned on “rolling back the rights of millions of LGBTQ people.”
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot use the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to detain or deport a group of Venezuelan illegal immigrants from a Texas facility.
👥 Who’s Involved: U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez, the Trump administration, Venezuelan illegal immigrants alleged to be part of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.
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📍 Where & When: Southern Texas, with the ruling issued on Thursday, May 1.
💬 Key Quote: Judge Rodriguez claims the president’s invocation of the AEA through proclamation “exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”
⚠️ Impact: The administration is barred from using the AEA and Trump’s proclamation to detain or remove the migrants, but removal proceedings can still proceed under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
IN FULL:
A federal judge has ruled that President Donald J. Trump‘s March 15 proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to expedite the deportation of illegal immigrants residing in the United States exceeds the statutory authority laid out in the law. U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez—appointed to the bench in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office—issued the decision on Thursday, determining that the America First leader cannot use the AEA as a legal justification for holding or deporting illegal immigrants either residing or detained in the jurisdiction of the Southern District of Texas.
“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation,” Rodriguez wrote in his ruling. He continued: “Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA.”
“Neither the Court nor the parties question that the Executive Branch can direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity in the United States… The question that this lawsuit presents is whether the president can utilize a specific statute, the AEA, to detain and remove Venezuelan aliens who are members of TdA,” the judge continued, concluding: “As to that question, the historical record renders clear that the president’s invocation of the AEA through the proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”
Notably, Tren de Aragua has been officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization, and the FBI reportedly has evidence that the Venezuelan government is aiding its infiltration of the U.S.
The lawsuit, initially filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the subsequent ruling come as a blow to the Trump White House’s push to swiftly deport dangerous, criminal illegal immigrants. Should the administration appeal Judge Rodriguez’s decision, the conservative-dominated 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, would hear the case. However, the 5th Circuit has shown a penchant in the past to rule against actions it sees as constitutional overreach by the Executive Branch, especially on the issue of immigration. Previously, the appellate court ruled against measures enacted by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama aimed at allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the country.
Notably, Judge Rodriguez took over the case from James Boasberg, who serves as the chief judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The change in venue and judge occurred after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that legal challenges to President Trump’s deportations can only be filed in the court district where the deported person resides or is detained. In addition, the Supreme Court determined that lower court rulings on the matter only apply to the judge’s respective judicial district.
While still presiding over the case earlier this year, Judge Boasberg issued a temporary halt to the deportation of illegal Venezuelan immigrants under the AEA in a bizarre order that demanded the Trump administration recall two planes that were over international waters carrying deportees to El Salvador.
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