NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration over a recent executive order aimed at cutting off all federal funding to NPR and PBS.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed the order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR” and affiliated public media outlets.

NPR swiftly vowed to fight back, with CEO Katherine Maher taking legal action and pledging to challenge the order “by all means available.”

“The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press. It is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR’s 246 Member stations, which are locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories. Today, we challenge its constitutionality in the nation’s independent courts,” Maher said in a lengthy statement. 

“Public media was established to inform the American public and uphold American democratic values,” Maher continued. “The President’s Executive Order is directly counter to Congress’s long standing intent, as expressed in the Public Broadcasting Act, to foster vibrant institutions that achieve that mission, serving all Americans independent of political influence.”

The lawsuit names Trump as a defendant, along with White House Budget Director Russel Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson.

Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and KSUT have joined NPR in the suit, which blasts Trump’s executive order as “unlawful in multiple ways.”

Maher also said that the order “threatens the existence of the public broadcasting system, upon which tens of millions of Americans rely” for vital news, information and emergency alerts. 

“For decades Congress has, in its bipartisan fashion, promoted, supported, and protected the speech of all Americans — including NPR, our Member stations, and other noncommercial radio stations. The United States Congress established the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, recognizing that broad access to free, high-quality, independent noncommercial and educational public radio and television programming was both a public good and civic necessity, critical to fostering an engaged and informed citizenry as provided for under the First Amendment,” Maher said.

“The Act, which provides for the creation of programming of ‘quality, diversity, creativity, excellence, and innovation,’ is a testament to Congress’s foresight. It created the infrastructure for a public radio system that reaches nearly 99% of the U.S. population over the airwaves,” the NPR CEO continued. “It provides for the resources for local newsrooms to serve their communities, children’s shows that educate and inspire, arts and cultural programming that preserves and celebrates national heritage, and storytelling that challenges and connects.”

Maher said Trump “has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of editorial decisions reflected in programming offered by NPR and PBS,” and “disparaged NPR’s news and other content as ‘left-wing propaganda.’”