NPR reaches settlement protecting public radio distribution and First Amendment rights

NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) have reached a resolution concerning the disbursement of federal funds appropriated for interconnection services, leading to a joint stipulation in NPR’s legal challenge to Executive Order 14290. In the stipulation, NPR and CPB agreed that the Executive Order is unconstitutional and that CPB will not implement or enforce it unless ordered by a court. The settlement also provides for CPB to disburse previously agreed upon funds to NPR to operate PRSS, the interconnected satellite-distributed network managed by NPR.

In conjunction with this outcome, NPR announced to the public radio system that it will immediately dedicate additional resources toward fortifying the public radio system. NPR’s Distribution/Interconnection Committee and the NPR Board have approved full and total relief of PRSS interconnection fees for two years for all interconnected public radio stations.

The settlement is a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system in our legal challenge to Executive Order 14290" said Katherine Maher, President and CEO of NPR. "While we entered into this dispute with CPB reluctantly, we’re glad to resolve it in a way that enables us to continue to provide for the stability of the Public Radio Satellite System, offer immediate and direct support to public radio stations across the country, and proceed with our strong and substantive claims against this illegal and unconstitutional Executive Order. We look forward to our day in court in December"

We are pleased that NPR and CPB were able to reach this settlement, which we see as a win for all of public radio" said Theodore Boutrous, NPR’s counsel and Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. "Not only does this settlement help ensure the stability of the Public Radio Satellite System for the future, but it’s also an important step forward in NPR’s fight against the President’s unconstitutional Executive Order. We look forward to pursuing our effort to fully enjoin implementation and enforcement of that order and to vindicate the First Amendment rights of NPR and the entire public radio system in the weeks to come"

According to the November 17 stipulation, the Executive Order is "precisely the type of governmental interference designed to impact media programming or program judgments that Congress by its plain terms sought to prevent in creating CPB as it did"

Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, NPR and CPB have entered into a separate five-year amendment to a prior grant agreement pursuant to which CPB disbursed $35,962,000 in federal funds appropriated for interconnection purposes to NPR to support NPR’s operation and management of the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS).

This outcome follows a status conference on October 30, 2025, at which the Court stated its view that NPR had "made a very substantial showing" in support of its claim that "CPB was motivated by a desire to show some compliance with" the Federal Defendants’ "efforts to penalize NPR for its speech and for the content of its speech" In the November 17 filing, the parties acknowledged such statements from the Court.

NPR will dismiss three counts of the amended complaint against CPB without prejudice. The litigation challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order 14290 will continue, with a hearing scheduled for December 4, 2025.

In addition to relief for PRSS interconnection fees, NPR will be accelerating the development of innovative and cost-effective solutions for terrestrial interconnection and distribution services. These investments will further assure the stability, integrity, and continuity of public radio distribution and interconnection services on behalf of the entire public radio system.

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