National Public Radio and three local stations have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, challenging the legality of an executive order aimed at cutting federal funding for public media.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, NPR, along with Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and KUTE, Inc., filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., arguing that the Trump administration’s executive order to slash funding to NPR and PBS violates the First Amendment.

The executive order, issued earlier this month, directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to stop all federal funding to NPR and PBS. It also requires these agencies to identify and eliminate indirect sources of public funding for these broadcasters. President Trump justified the order by accusing NPR and PBS of political bias in their reporting.

According to the lawsuit, “The Order’s objectives could not be clearer: it seeks to punish NPR for news coverage and programming that the President disapproves of, effectively chilling the free exercise of First Amendment rights by NPR and its member stations nationwide.”

The complaint further states, “This executive order amounts to retaliation and viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment, infringing on NPR’s and local stations’ editorial independence and freedom of association.”