PBS sues Trump administration in wake of calls to strip funding
The suit filed Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C., accused the president of trying to 'upend public television' and argues the law 'forbids' him from pulling funding to it and other public broadcast outlets.
PBS's suit follows a similar lawsuit filed earlier this week by NPR, which similarly argued Trump's executive order targeting funding to public media 'violates the Separation of Powers and the Spending Clause by disregarding Congress's express commands.'
In a statement to The Hill on Friday, a spokesperson for PBS said, 'after careful deliberation, PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal action to safeguard public television's editorial independence, and to protect the autonomy of PBS member stations.'
Trump and his allies have long attacked NPR and PBS over their funding, some of which comes from taxpayer dollars but a larger portion of which is derived from private donations and member stations.
On Capitol Hill, a push among Republicans to strip federal funding from public broadcasters is gaining steam, though some lawmakers expressed skepticism.
At a hearing last month, PBS president Paula Kerger defended the outlet's editorial strategy and funding model, arguing the network provides vital services to Americans and particularly children through educational programming.
But Trump, in his executive order that has now sparked a pair of lawsuits, argued PBS and NPR are biased against his agenda in their news coverage and are undeserving of federal dollars.
'No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize,' his executive order on the matter reads. 'Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to tax paying citizens.'
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Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Mother of slain soldier held by Hamas terrorists for 4K days makes plea to Trump
It has been 4,000 days since Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old Israeli soldier and budding artist, was ambushed and killed by Hamas terrorists during a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza. His remains have never been returned. For his mother, Leah Goldin, the passage of time has only deepened the urgency. In a wide-ranging interview marking the grim milestone, she thanked President Donald Trump and his advisors for their efforts so far— and asked for them to ensure that no ceasefire, normalization deal or regional agreement moves forward without the return of her son. "We are turning to and hoping that President Trump and his people — who understand this issue — will recognize that the real victory over Iran is to bring everyone home immediately and unconditionally. Hadar is a symbol, and the Saudis must make this demand on their side, because you can't speak of normalization while we remain in a state of abnormality. "These deals are a bluff — and this selective process is horrific. It's killing the families and the hostages. The further we go without bringing everyone back and ending this awful war, the more Hadar Goldins there will be. It's unbearable." Hadar Goldin was born to a prominent family of educators and raised on values of faith, service and compassion. Hadar was known for his gentle character, sharp intellect and deep artistic talent. He had just gotten engaged. In his free time, he drew portraits, wrote poetry and taught children with disabilities. He was serving in the elite Givati Brigade when, on Aug. 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, Hamas violated a ceasefire — agreed upon hours earlier with U.S. and U.N. mediation — by launching a surprise attack. Hadar was killed and dragged into a tunnel inside Gaza. For his mother, that moment shattered not only her family's world, but also what she calls "the Israeli military's sacred code." "The IDF's ethos is never to leave a soldier behind," she said. "But on August 28, 2014, Israel signed a ceasefire with Hamas without demanding Hadar's return. That broke something fundamental." Over the past decade, Leah Goldin has met with world leaders, lawmakers and military officials across the U.S. and Europe, seeking justice for her son and others like him. She points to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2474, passed in 2019, which obligates all parties to an armed conflict to return the remains of the dead as a humanitarian act and confidence-building measure. "This is international law," she said. "And yet Hadar is still in Gaza." Goldin credits the Trump administration for taking the issue seriously. "When the resolution passed in 2019, it was Trump's people — Jason Greenblatt, Nikki Haley — who led the way," she said. Today, Goldin sees a rare opportunity — a convergence of diplomatic efforts with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Gaza — to demand Hadar's return before any agreements are finalized. "Saudi Arabia has enormous leverage," she said. "They're leading the Islamic world. If they want normalization with Israel, then let them demand the return of Hadar and all of the hostages as a gesture of goodwill." She also praised Steve Witkoff, a Trump envoy on both Iran and Saudi issues, and urged him to connect the dots. "He's in charge of the deals. He knows the hostages matter. Don't say you'll finish the business and deal with the hostages later. That's immoral." Goldin says she has lost trust in the Israeli government, which she believes has repeatedly sidelined her son for political convenience. "It's the same people for 11 years, just in different chairs," she said. "They sign ceasefires, they release terrorists — but leave Hadar behind." Since Hamas' October 7 massacre, Leah and her family have taken on a new role: advising and supporting the families of current hostages through the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a group they helped build in the days after the attack. "My son Tzur, who also served in special forces, said no family should go through this alone," she said. "So we organized — gave them our contacts, our tools, our lessons. But it's painful. Because we've seen this before. And we know how easy it is to be forgotten." She calls the ongoing hostage negotiations "a nightmare of selection," where some are prioritized and others left behind. "As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, this feels like moral collapse," she said. Goldin says she will not stop until Hadar — and all the hostages — come home. "Hadar is not just my son," she said. "He's a symbol now. And in every ceasefire, in every backroom deal, in every 'business as usual' moment — I want the world to remember his name."
The Hill
34 minutes ago
- The Hill
US manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help American manufacturers, one way or another. Democratic President Joe Biden handed out subsidies to chipmakers and electric vehicle manufacturers. Republican President Donald Trump is building a wall of import taxes — tariffs — around the U.S. economy to protect domestic industry from foreign competition. Yet American manufacturing has been stuck in a rut for nearly three years. And it remains to be seen whether the trend will reverse itself. The U.S. Labor Department reports that American factories shed 7,000 jobs in June for the second month in a row. Manufacturing employment is on track to drop for the third straight year. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported that manufacturing activity in the United States shrank in June for the fourth straight month. In fact, U.S. factories have been in decline for 30 of the 32 months since October 2022, according to ISM. 'The past three years have been a real slog for manufacturing,'' said Eric Hagopian, CEO of Pilot Precision Products, a maker of industrial cutting tools in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. 'We didn't get destroyed like we did in the recession of 2008. But we've been in this stagnant, sort of stationary environment.'' Big economic factors contributed to the slowdown: A surge in inflation, arising from the unexpectedly strong economic recovery from COVID-19, raised factory expenses and prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs added to the strain. Government policy was meant to help. Biden's tax incentives for semiconductor and clean energy production triggered a factory-building boom – investment in manufacturing facilities more than tripled from April 2021 through October 2024 – that seemed to herald a coming surge in factory production and hiring. Eventually anyway. But the factory investment spree has faded as the incoming Trump administration launched trade wars and, working with Congress, ended Biden's subsidies for green energy. Now, predicts Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, 'manufacturing production will continue to flatline.' 'If production is flat, that suggests manufacturing employment will continue to slide,' Zandi said. 'Manufacturing is likely to suffer a recession in the coming year.'' Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to protect U.S. manufacturers — and to coax factories to relocate and produce in America — by imposing tariffs on goods made overseas. 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Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Crypto bills set to advance this week take industry closer to mainstream
By Hannah Lang (Reuters) -The crypto industry will take a step closer to going mainstream this week as a series of industry-friendly bills progress through Congress, paving the way for digital assets to potentially be further integrated into traditional finance. The House of Representatives is set to pass a series of crypto-related bills in a week which the Republican majority has dubbed "crypto week." The most notable is a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins and is likely to advance to President Donald Trump's desk. That bill -- and another the House is considering that would define when a crypto token is a commodity -- is a huge win for the crypto industry, which has been pushing for federal legislation for years and poured money into last year's elections in order to promote pro-crypto candidates. "Historically, when lawmakers advance industry-backed frameworks, institutional sentiment strengthens. We expect capital that was previously sidelined due to regulatory uncertainty to re-enter," said Jag Kooner, head of derivatives at crypto exchange Bitfinex. "Crypto week" also comes as bitcoin has scaled record highs in recent days as investors dive back into risk assets on the back of tariff-related news, as well as expectations that legislation could potentially unlock capital in the crypto space. The big ticket item the House is set to vote on this week is a bill that would create a set of federal requirements for stablecoins. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents say they could be used to send payments instantly. The bill, dubbed the GENIUS Act, received bipartisan support in the Senate, with several Democrats joining most Republicans to back the proposed federal rules. It is expected to pass the House and would then head to Trump, who has said he will sign it into law. The bill would require tokens to be backed by liquid assets - such as U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury bills - and for issuers to disclose publicly the composition of their reserves on a monthly basis. Crypto proponents say those rules could legitimize stablecoins, making banks, retailers and consumers more comfortable with using them to transfer funds. Ahead of the bill's final passage, many companies across sectors are already considering how they might incorporate stablecoins into their business, said Julia Demidova, head of digital currencies product and strategy at FIS, a financial technology solutions provider. "I think everyone is realizing, look, this is moving forward and they need to have a stablecoin strategy," she said. "They need to think how banks themselves will position against some of these novel, new, emerging fintech-issued stablecoins as well." Still, many Democrats have argued that the GENIUS Act would not prevent big tech companies from issuing their own private stablecoins, and have called for stronger anti-money laundering protections and prohibitions on foreign stablecoin issuers. Many Democrats fiercely oppose both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, arguing that they have too few consumer protections and would be a giveaway to Trump's own personal crypto ventures by enabling softer-touch regulation. Democratic members are expected to offer several amendments to both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act on the House floor next week, according to a source familiar with the matter, but it is unclear whether any of them will be considered. The House will also vote next week on a bill that would prohibit the U.S. from issuing a central bank digital currency, which Republicans say violate Americans' privacy. The bill has not been considered in the Senate and the Federal Reserve has not indicated a desire to develop a central bank digital currency. MARKET STRUCTURE The House this week is also expected to pass a bill that aims to develop a regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies and would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's oversight of the digital asset industry and is backed by the industry. If signed into law, the bill would define when a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity and clarify the Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction over the sector, something crypto companies heavily disputed during the Biden administration. That could help crypto companies avoid the oversight of the SEC, which under the Biden administration sued a number of crypto exchanges for flouting its rules. Crypto companies have argued that most crypto tokens should be classified as commodities, rather than securities, which would enable platforms to more easily offer those tokens to their customers. That bill, called the CLARITY Act, has yet to be considered in the Senate, where it would need to pass before heading to Trump for final approval. Trump has sought to overhaul U.S. cryptocurrency policies after courting cash from the industry during his presidential campaign. The sector spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year's elections. Trump's crypto ventures include a meme coin called $TRUMP, launched in January, and a business called World Liberty Financial, a crypto company owned partly by the president. The White House has said there are no conflicts of interest and that Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. 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