Judge blocks Trump order to end funding for NPR and PBS

The headquarters for National Public Radio (NPR) stands on North Capitol Street on April 15, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

A federal judge has agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge says the First Amendment right to free speech “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”

“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” wrote Moss, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.