A U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss has ruled that President Donald Trump cannot be forced to defund PBS and NPR, citing the First Amendment's use of government power to punish or suppress disfavored expression. The ruling was obtained by Entertainment Weekly and stated that the defunding order violates free speech rights. The White House responded by calling the ruling a "ridiculous" attempt to undermine the law. The defunding of PBS and PBS was approved in 2025, taking back more than $1 billion allocated to public broadcasting for the next two years.