Up First from NPR
Public Media Cuts, Waltz Out As National Security Advisor, Alien Enemies Act Ruling
Fri, 02 May 2025
A new executive order aims to cut federal subsidies to PBS and NPR. President Trump is nominating national security adviser Mike Waltz as his ambassador to the United Nations, and a federal judge ruled that the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants from the US is "unlawful." Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Gerry Holmes, Roberta Rampton, Eric Westervelt, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange. And our Executive Producer is Jay Shaylor. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What is the new executive order targeting PBS and NPR?
A new executive order is trying to stop federal funding to PBS and NPR.
It's the latest attack on public media. What happens to local stations in news deserts if the money dries up? I'm Laila Faldil, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is leaving the White House. He's nominated for a new job as U.N. ambassador. Is it a promotion or a punishment for Signalgate?
And a federal judge in Texas dealt a major blow to the president's efforts to deport non-citizens.
This decision protects everyone who's detained in the Southern District of Texas. It means that they cannot be removed anywhere under the Alien Enemies Act, much less to a brutal Salvadoran prison.
Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Late last night, President Trump issued an executive order that attempts to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, accusing the organizations of political bias.
It's the latest in a string of attacks on public media by the administration and Republican leaders in Congress. The move bans direct federal funding for the public broadcasters. It also bans local public radio and television stations from using taxpayer dollars to support them. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR executive reviewed the story before it airs.
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Chapter 2: How will the executive order affect local public media stations?
With us to talk about all of this is NPR's Ryland Barton. Hi, Ryland.
Hi, Leila.
So tell us exactly how Trump is trying to defund NPR and PBS through this executive order.
Well, Trump is directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or CPB to stop sending money to NPR and PBS, saying that federal funding should not support what he calls biased and partisan news coverage. NPR and PBS have repeatedly said they are fair in their coverage. CPP is this independent nonprofit created by Congress in 1967 to partially fund public broadcasters.
And currently, NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from CPP, and PBS gets about 15%. But the other part of this executive order tries to get at the indirect ways that the news organizations get federal dollars, and that's through local stations. They are banned from using CPB funds to pay for NPR or PBS content under the order.
Now, I should say CPB is also fighting a different move by the president earlier this week to fire board members. So it's unclear how they will respond to this order. They sued saying they're not a federal agency and that board members don't serve at the pleasure of the president.
OK, so what have NPR and PBS said about this executive order and what they plan to do?
So not a whole lot so far. But in a statement, NPR said that the Constitution gives the power to Congress over these funding decisions, not the president, and that the executive order will, quote, have a devastating impact on local communities across America that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, lifesaving emergency alerts and public safety information.
Okay, this appears to be the most direct attack on public media, but we all know this has been building for a while.
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Chapter 3: What is NPR's response to the defunding attempt?
Let me inform you so that your federal funding is also paid for by the other half of the country, the 77 million Americans who voted for President Trump, someone you called a deranged, racist sociopath.
Greene was referring to a social media post Marr made before she became NPR CEO. Marr said she regretted the post and wouldn't have made it today. And Marr and her PBS counterpart rejected accusations that their coverage is biased.
Okay, tell us about how this would affect local stations.
Chapter 4: What were the political challenges faced by NPR and PBS leaders?
Chapter 5: How significant is Corporation for Public Broadcasting's role in public media funding?
OK, so what have NPR and PBS said about this executive order and what they plan to do?
So not a whole lot so far. But in a statement, NPR said that the Constitution gives the power to Congress over these funding decisions, not the president, and that the executive order will, quote, have a devastating impact on local communities across America that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, lifesaving emergency alerts and public safety information.
Okay, this appears to be the most direct attack on public media, but we all know this has been building for a while.
Yeah, Layla, listeners might remember that back in late March, the heads of NPR and PBS testified at this House hearing called Anti-American Airwaves, holding the heads of NPR and PBS accountable. It was headed up by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Here she is speaking to NPR CEO Catherine Maher.
Let me inform you so that your federal funding is also paid for by the other half of the country, the 77 million Americans who voted for President Trump, someone you called a deranged, racist sociopath.
Greene was referring to a social media post Marr made before she became NPR CEO. Marr said she regretted the post and wouldn't have made it today. And Marr and her PBS counterpart rejected accusations that their coverage is biased.
Okay, tell us about how this would affect local stations.
Yeah, so stations like Louisville Public Media, where I happen to be based and I'm sitting right now, they get an average of 8% to 10% of their revenue from CPB. That number is much, much higher for smaller rural stations, sometimes over 50% of their funding. Stations have been sounding the alarm on this in recent months.
You can hear it in their fund drives saying it's an existential threat to their operations and their communities. And it's unclear what this executive order means for them, but a lot of content on stations is national NPR and PBS programming. NPR relies on these number stations to cover breaking news and provide context that national reporters just can't always do.
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Chapter 6: Why is National Security Advisor Mike Waltz leaving and what is his next role?
I mean, it was embarrassing for the White House. Waltz did take responsibility for accidentally inviting the editor of The Atlantic into a private Signal chat, which was made up of top officials. They were discussing sensitive plans for U.S. strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. Trump initially defended Waltz and downplayed the incident as a, quote, glitch.
I was actually with Trump yesterday and he didn't talk about moving Waltz, but Vice President J.D. Vance did. And he insisted that the signal chat was not the reason for this change during an interview on Fox News.
I like Mike. I think he's a great guy. He's got the trust of both me and the president. But we also thought that he'd make a better U.N. ambassador as we get beyond this stage of the reforms that we've made to the National Security Council.
By reforms, Vance means staffing the NSC with people who are more loyal to Trump and support his policies.
Trump has a lot of people around him on national security issues. How did Waltz fit in there?
You know, Waltz had kind of a diminished role in recent months. He was more of a traditional Republican hawk compared to some of the other advisers who want to get America out from foreign involvement. And Trump loyalists never really trusted him. And we've seen Trump lean more heavily on other aides when it comes to big conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and even in talks with Iran.
Those included Rubio, as well as the Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and even Treasury Secretary Scott Bassett. Walsh just never seemed to fully align with Trump's approach to Moscow and other adversaries. But I will note that Vance also said in that Fox interview that that's not what this is all about.
And finally, Franco, before we go, we hear that the army is planning a parade to mark the president's birthday. Sounds unusual. What can you say about it?
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Chapter 7: What implications does Mike Waltz's nomination have on the Senate confirmation?
Chapter 8: What is the recent federal court ruling on the Alien Enemies Act?
This decision protects everyone who's detained in the Southern District of Texas. It means that they cannot be removed anywhere under the Alien Enemies Act, much less to a brutal Salvadoran prison.
Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Late last night, President Trump issued an executive order that attempts to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, accusing the organizations of political bias.
It's the latest in a string of attacks on public media by the administration and Republican leaders in Congress. The move bans direct federal funding for the public broadcasters. It also bans local public radio and television stations from using taxpayer dollars to support them. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR executive reviewed the story before it airs.
With us to talk about all of this is NPR's Ryland Barton. Hi, Ryland.
Hi, Leila.
So tell us exactly how Trump is trying to defund NPR and PBS through this executive order.
Well, Trump is directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or CPB to stop sending money to NPR and PBS, saying that federal funding should not support what he calls biased and partisan news coverage. NPR and PBS have repeatedly said they are fair in their coverage. CPP is this independent nonprofit created by Congress in 1967 to partially fund public broadcasters.
And currently, NPR receives about 1% of its funding directly from CPP, and PBS gets about 15%. But the other part of this executive order tries to get at the indirect ways that the news organizations get federal dollars, and that's through local stations. They are banned from using CPB funds to pay for NPR or PBS content under the order.
Now, I should say CPB is also fighting a different move by the president earlier this week to fire board members. So it's unclear how they will respond to this order. They sued saying they're not a federal agency and that board members don't serve at the pleasure of the president.
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