Judge Randolph D. Moss ruled on Tuesday that President Trump’s executive order issued last year violated the First Amendment rights of NPR and 3 member stations.
KSUT was a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“The First Amendment draws a line,” Moss wrote in his memorandum opinion and order, “...which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power—including the power of the purse—’to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others.”
President Trump crossed that line, Moss found, when he issued a May 1, 2025, order, Ending Taxpayer Subsidization Of Biased Media.
The order required the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to cease direct funding of NPR and PBS. The order also prohibited indirect funding of the networks, stating that public radio and television stations could not use federal funds to pay for programming from NPR and PBS.
“The First Amendment bars the government from discriminating based on ‘viewpoint,” Moss wrote in his ruling. “Even more to the point, the government may not deny federal funding (or any other benefit) to a speaker in retaliation for conveying a message the government dislikes.”
The ruling prohibits all federal agencies from adhering to Trump's executive order.
“It feels incredibly empowering,” said Tami Graham, KSUT’s executive director. “This was a fight worth fighting. We’re on the right side of history by being a part of this lawsuit.”
“It feels incredibly empowering. This was a fight worth fighting. We’re on the right side of history by being a part of this lawsuit.”KSUT Executive Director Tami Graham
NPR and three member stations (KSUT, Aspen Public Radio, and Colorado Public Radio) sued the Trump Administration last year.
On December 4, attorneys for both sides offered arguments.
During the hearing, Justice Department lawyers told Moss that the President was acting within his authority and argued the case had become moot once Congress clawed back funding for public media in July.
In his ruling, Moss acknowledged that the lawsuit, as it relates to CPB funding, is moot. But, he said, other federal agencies may still fund public broadcasters, and those agencies shall not be restricted by Trump’s unconstitutional order.
Indeed, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is administering funds to Tribal stations–part of an amendment added to the rescission legislation by US Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota
As a tribal station, KSUT is a beneficiary of that federal program.
“Today, KSUT has no restriction on using federal funding it received from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to acquire NPR programming,” said Steve Zansberg, a Denver-based attorney who represented the three-member station co-plaintiffs. “Yesterday, it was restricted from doing that under the terms of this order.”
“It’s a tremendous victory for the First Amendment,” Zansberg added.
