Attorney General Tong Supports Lawsuits Challenging Public Media Funding Cuts

Press Releases

06/23/2025

Attorney General Tong Supports Lawsuits Challenging Public Media Funding Cuts

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong has filed a court brief along with 22 other attorneys general in support of two lawsuits brought by National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service that seek to block proposed funding cuts to their organizations and local affiliates.

“Donald Trump’s crackdown on public media funding is yet another unlawful move towards autocracy. Congress has long appropriated funds for public media because of the vital role NPR and PBS play in providing fact-based news, educational programming and critical emergency alerts. Trump is not a dictator, and he cannot unilaterally override Congress based on who he likes and dislikes,” said Attorney General Tong.

At issue in the case is an executive order signed by President Trump on May 1 directing the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and executive branch agencies to end federal funding for NPR and PBS. On May 27, NPR and three Colorado public radio stations—Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and tribal-serving KSUT in southwestern Colorado—sued to block the proposed cuts. PBS and a Minnesota-based affiliate filed a separate lawsuit on May 30.

The coalition of attorneys general argue that public broadcast stations serve a critical role in delivering information to the public and the proposed cuts would gravely harm Americans. The coalition says the funding cuts would create risks to public safety and erode trust by threatening coverage of local news, creating disruptions to the distribution of emergency notifications, reducing critical educational services, and limiting public media’s unique reach to rural and tribal audiences.

In the brief, filed concurrently in both lawsuits, the coalition outlines some of the harms people in their states will face if the cuts move forward. These include threats to emergency notification systems like the Emergency Alert System, or EAS. Many states, including Connecticut, rely on public broadcast stations to serve as primary or secondary stations to deliver EAS messages to the public during emergencies. Additionally, other infrastructure provided by NPR and PBS serve as important backups for emergency notifications in the event of electrical or internet outages.

Other emergency notifications disseminated via public media include Amber Alerts for abducted children, Blue Alerts for notifying the public of suspects who have killed or seriously injured law enforcement officers, Silver Alerts used when older people or people with developmental disabilities go missing, and Missing Indigenous Person Alerts that are critical for tribal communities.

Finally, the brief highlights the disproportionate threats to rural and tribal areas posed by the cuts.

Click here to read the brief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Joining Attorney General Tong in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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