William Brangham:
The head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Pat Harrison, cited that fact that you just stated, which is that CPB was created by Congress, not by the White House, and so the executive office has no authority over their governance.
In her statement, she went on to say — quote — “In creating CPB, Congress expressly forbade any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision or control over educational television or radio broadcasting or over CPB or any of its grantees or contractors.”
So she’s saying that Congress is in the driver’s seat, not the White House. The heads of PBS and NPR argued much the same. Paula Kerger, the head of PBS, called this E.O. — quote — “blatantly unlawful.” Katherine Maher, the head of NPR, said it will — quote — “challenge this executive order using all means available.”
Of course, this also comes after the Trump administration this week tried to push out three members, all Democrats, from the board of CPB. And CPB is now suing over that.
