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Date: March 25, 2025 at 15:23:55
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Judge temporarily bars effort to defund Radio Free Europe |
URL: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5213513-judge-temporarily-bars-effort-to-defund-radio-free-europe/ |
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Judge temporarily bars effort to defund Radio Free Europe
by Ella Lee - 03/25/25 4:13 PM ET
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked Kari Lake and the Trump administration from moving to defund Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found that the administration and Lake, who oversees U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which funds the radio station and Voice of America (VOA), likely violated the law by attempting to terminate RFE/RL’s funding and granted its request for a temporary restraining order.
“RFE/RL has, for decades, operated as one of the organizations that Congress has statutorily designated to carry out this policy,” Lamberth, appointed by former President Reagan, wrote in a 10-page opinion. “The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down — even if the President has told them to do so.”
The efforts to freeze RFE/RL’s funding followed President Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating USAGM.
RFE/RL claimed in its complaint that the radio station’s funding immediately froze, undercutting Congress’s power of the purse, and a $7.4 million invoice was left unpaid. However, the Justice Department wrote in court filings Monday that the $7.4 million had been disbursed.
DOJ lawyer Abby Stout argued during a hearing Monday that because the requested millions had been disbursed, the challengers’ request for temporary injunctive relief should be denied.
“In this limited setting today, the TRO would not be appropriate,” she argued.
But lawyers for RFE/RL said that disbursement of funds is only a temporary solution to the issues the radio station will face if their grant is cancelled. Thomas Brugato, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, warned that the network would have to lay off staff and shut down as soon as April if the funding doesn’t resume.
“It’s really a Band-Aid,” Brugato said.
RFE/RL publishes content in 27 languages for 23 countries across Europe and Asia, reaching a weekly audience of more than 47 million people.
Lamberth wrote in his decision that, for 75 years, the government has specifically supported RFE/RL as a vehicle for providing “trustworthy, locally relevant news to audiences subject to communist propaganda.”
“The Court concludes, in keeping with Congress’s longstanding determination, that the continued operation of RFE/RL is in the public interest,” he wrote.
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Date: March 26, 2025 at 11:58:47
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Judge temporarily bars effort to defund Radio Free Europe |
URL: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/26/voice-of-america-shutdown-lawsuit-027972 |
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Voice of America director sues over the outlet’s closure
This is the second suit filed in response to the Trump administration’s executive order gutting the media organization.
Voice of America headquarters is seen.
“Closing down Voice of America would be an incalculable self-inflicted wound for America and deprive the U.S. of a priceless asset,” Director Michael Abramowitz wrote in a letter to VOA employees. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
By Katherine Long
03/26/2025 02:24 PM EDT
Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz has sued the Trump administration, asking a federal court to determine the administration’s decision to dismantle the government-funded media outlet as unlawful.
The suit, filed in Washington on Wednesday, is one of a handful filed in response to the closure of several media outlets housed under or funded by the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
“Closing down Voice of America would be an incalculable self-inflicted wound for America and deprive the U.S. of a priceless asset,” Abramowitz — who like virtually every other VOA employee was placed on administrative leave or terminated — wrote in a letter to VOA employees which he subsequently shared on LinkedIn.
A group of VOA journalists in New York City filed a separate suit last week against the Trump administration and Kari Lake, a Trump ally who currently serves as special adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
President Donald Trump has been vocal in his disdain for the global media organization. He signed an executive order March 15 that effectively gutted a number of smaller agencies, one of them being the USAGM, which oversees or funds media outlets including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and VOA.
Abramowitz is asking the judge to reverse the administration’s decision to put VOA employees on administrative leave, deem the action unlawful and file a temporary restraining order to halt its implementation.
A USAGM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In response to a suit filed last week in opposition to the order, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday to halt the funding freeze for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down – even if the President has told them to do so,” Lamberth wrote.
VOA, which aims to serve a free press for a global audience, has a “firewall” which was established in the International Broadcasting Act signed in 1994. The law bars U.S. government officials from interfering in the outlet’s objective.
Supporters of the outlet say its independent, fact-based journalism advances America’s interests by countering propaganda.
“Our enemies are already rejoicing,” Abramowitz wrote. “In Africa and Latin America, shutting down VOA would cede entire continents to America’s adversaries and allow authoritarian regimes to seed anti-American narratives.”
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