Judge Blocks Trump's Bid to Defund PBS, NPR

0:00It's April 1st, from your city to your ears. This is Anchorage News today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. A federal judge just shut down part of President Trump's executive order from last year that tried to cut off all federal funding to PBS and NPR. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled, it's unconstitutional because it amounts to viewpoint discrimination against their coverage. He issued an injunction to stop agencies from enforcing that section. Even though Congress already killed funding for the corporation for public broadcasting, which supports those outlets, the order went further by. Blocking grants from everywhere else in government. Moss said the president can trash their reporting all he wants, but he can't use executive power to punish them for it. Reactions are split down the middle. The White House called it a ridiculous activist judge move and plans to appeal hard. PBS is celebrating, saying it proves the order violated first amendment basics while NPR stay quiet on common. The lawsuits came from NPR with some Colorado stations and PBS with a Minnesota one, hitting

1:04back at what they called retaliation for biased media. Claims. It could have blocked money for everything from kids shows to emergency broadcast and journalist safety gear. This ruling keeps the door open for PBS and NPR to chase other federal grants, but expect a big fight in appeals court as the administration pushes to. In taxpayer support for what they see is slanted news.