The company’s public broadcaster sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, accusing illegally trying to fire three members of the company’s board of directors.
The White House emailed three of the company’s five directors on Monday telling them that their position had been terminated, a media organization said in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington. The government has provided no reason for the dismissal.
The lawsuit argues that President Trump has no authority to fire directors for public broadcasts to the company, a Congressional bill created more than half a century ago. The lawsuit calls for federal court to stop the shooting.
“Public broadcasters are not government entities and their board members are not government officials,” the public broadcaster said in a statement. “Because the CPB is not a federal agency under the authority of the president, but a private company, we have filed lawsuits to prevent these shots.”
The company’s public broadcast directors are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for six years. The board members are nominated for the current terms by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
White House representatives did not immediately comment.
The lawsuit is the latest sign of tensions between Republican politicians and public broadcasters, which spends more than $500 million a year on organizations such as PBS, NPR and NPR broadcasting and television stations in the United States.
Republicans believe the government should not fund news programs they consider liberal bias. NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger defended the organization during a fierce congressional hearing in March.
Republicans have threatened to donate to companies for decades, but the pressure has been intensified recently. Congress has introduced legislation to eliminate taxpayer funds in public media, and the White House is planning to require lawmakers to withdraw more than $1 billion for public broadcasts in the United States.
According to the lawsuit, on Monday, the White House emailed directors to Laura Ross, Diane Kaplan and Thomas E. Rossman. The email told them that “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump” was removed from office.
“I write to you that your position on the public broadcaster will be terminated immediately,” the email said. “Thank you for your service.”
Mr. Trump’s efforts to promote the company’s board of directors for the public broadcaster reflect his positive attitude toward remake of the Washington agency. The president made similar attempts at Voice of America and the Institute of Peace, and both were subject to legal resistance.
In its lawsuit, the public broadcaster asked the court for temporary restraining orders that prohibited the White House from interfering with the company’s governance or actions. A hearing on the complaint was held in Washington Tuesday afternoon.
