President Trump opened up a new front in his assault on public media on Monday, asserting that he was removing three of the five board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The corporation sued Trump on Tuesday morning in response, pointing to federal law and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to argue that he does not have the power to take these actions.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss set a court hearing for Tuesday afternoon to take up the CPB’s motion for a temporary restraining order preventing Trump’s decree from taking effect.
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”.
Indeed, the law specifically states that the CPB “will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government” and sets up a series of measures intended to “afford the maximum protection from extraneous interference and control.“
The board members targeted by Trump are Tom Rothman and Diane Kaplan – both appointees of former President Joe Biden – and Laura Gore Ross, who was appointed to the board by Trump in his first term and then reappointed by Biden.
“Not a federal agency”
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.”
In its lawsuit, CPB’s legal team cites the statute authorizing CPB, which specifically states that no officers or employees of the U.S. government can serve on the board – and no board member can be considered a federal employee.
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