WASHINGTON, June 9, 2025 – A federal District Court here Sunday denied a federally funded nonprofit a preliminary injunction, upholding the Trump Administration’s firing of three board members until the case proceeds.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting requested a temporary restraining order against the Defendants – including President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency – but has failed to prove that the emergency relief a temporary restraining order provides is necessary, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss said in an opinion.
DOGE staffer and tech entrepreneur Nate Cavanaughwho has been working with the Government Services Administration, emailed CPB board members Laura G. Ross, Diane Kaplan and Tom Rothman April 28, informing them that their positions at the CPB have been “terminated effective immediately.”
The next day, Cavanaugh emailed the other two board members, Ruby Calvert and Liz seemasking to discuss with them how to involve DOGE with the CPB.
While CPB board members are Presidential appointees, the corporation maintains that it is not within the Trump Administration’s powers to remove board members or control the nonprofit.
The CPB is a “private corporation funded by the American people,” created by Congress to “steward [the] federal government’s investments in public broadcasting.” Despite being federally funded, the corporation’s “insulation from Government control or influence” was emphasized in its creation in 1967.
One reason Moss gave for denying immediate protections for the CPB is that the “plaintiffs do not request that the Court order the President to [reinstate Ross, Rothman and Kaplan].”
In a press release yesterday, the CPB stated that they were taking “steps to affirm that [Ross, Rothman and Kaplan] remain, and shall continue to be directors of the Board of Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
