A federal court on Sunday declined a request from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to block the Trump administration from removing three members of its board of directors.
CPB is a nonprofit distributing funds to more than 1,600 public television and radio stations such as PBS and NPR. On April 28, White House official Trent Morse informed three CPB board members—Laura Ross, Thomas Rothman, and Diane Kaplan—that they were being removed from their positions.
A day later, CPB, its board, and the three board members filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the administration, including President Donald Trump and Morse. It asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the defendants from taking any action outlined in the termination notice.
On June 8, the court issued an order denying the plaintiffs’ request. Plaintiffs failed to prove that the firings were unlawful or that they would suffer “irreparable harm” without obtaining the court’s relief, the order said.
The court cited three distinct features of CPB: The president appoints board members with the advice and consent of the Senate; the organization is not an agency or establishment of the U.S. government; and government departments, agencies, officers, or employees of the United States are prohibited from exercising control over CPB except under certain anti-discrimination laws.
Plaintiffs said CPB is a private corporation that Congress has carefully shielded from government interference. The U.S. president lacks the authority to fire board members since he is an “officer” of the United States, they argued.
The court said it is likely Congress intended to prevent the U.S. president from controlling CPB. However, Congress did provide the president appointment power at CPB, it said, adding that such authority “carries with it at least some ability to influence the affairs of the Corporation.”
Despite the ruling, the CPB said in a June 8 statement that the members will remain on its board.
“U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss today recognized the independence of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” the organization said, citing the ruling. The statement said that the court “recognized that under the D.C. nonprofit act, the bylaws of CPB govern in this instance,” and that the president lacks authority to remove a director without a two-thirds vote of the other directors confirming such removal.
“Consistent with the Court’s decision and the authority provided under the governing statute, Harrison has today taken steps to affirm that the three individuals whom the President purported to remove, Laura G. Ross, Thomas E. Rothman, and Diane Kaplan, are, remain, and shall continue to be directors of the Board of Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” CPB stated.
The judge wrote in the order that “the president is not free to remove directors and then unilaterally to appoint their replacements, thereby using his power to remove as an effective tool for altering Board policy. Rather, the President’s appointment authority is tempered by the requirement that he proceed only with the advice and consent of the Senate.”
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