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On Monday of this week, President Trump attempted to remove three members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board. On Tuesday, CPB sued the administration, claiming he didn’t have the right to do that.
At a court hearing Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss ordered both sides to file arguments on CPB’s motion for a temporary restraining order that would prevent Trump’s decree from taking effect until the case was fully heard.
Under the law that created CPB more than five decades ago, the president has the authority to appoint members of its board, in consultation with Senate leaders of both parties.
The law does not, however, establish any authority for a president to remove them. As the CPB lawsuit notes, that law does not include the clause common to U.S. government agencies that its board members «serve at the pleasure of the President».
In a statement, CPB says, «The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not a government entity, and its board members are not government officers. Because CPB is not a federal agency subject to the President’s authority, but rather a private corporation, we have filed a lawsuit to block these firings.»
So the basic argument is that Congress set this up and President Trump can tend it but not end it. Trump said earlier this month he would ask congress to rescind all funding for CPB. No one has any doubt that Congress could do this.
The Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress outlining its intent to end nearly all federal funding for public media, which includes NPR and PBS, according to a White House official who spoke to NPR.
