A federal judge has put a stop, for now, to Donald Trump‘s effort to abolish Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, one of the U.S.-funded broadcasting entities targeted by a presidential executive order.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a temporary restraining order to the broadcaster, concluding that the administration’s efforts to shut it down would cause irreparable harm.
“The Court concludes, in keeping with Congress’s longstanding determination, that the continued operation of RFE/RL is in the public interest,” Lamberth wrote. He wrote that the U.S. Agency for Global Media acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in cutting off grant funding to the non-profit broadcaster.
“Congress has found that ‘it is the policy of the United States to promote the right of freedom of opinion and expression’ and that ‘open communication of information and ideas among the peoples of the world contributes to international peace and stability.’ RFE/RL has, for decades, operated as one of the organizations that Congress has statutorily designated to carry out this policy. 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.”
After Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees U.S. international broadcasters, RFE/RL sued Kari Lake, who has been serving as senior adviser to the agency.
Trump’s order also halted the operations of other entities, including Voice of America, which is operated by the U.S. government. A group of employees sued Trump administration officials earlier this week over the closure.
Steve Capus, president and CEO of RFE/RL, said in a statement, “We appreciate Judge Lamberth’s thoughtful and airtight ruling to prevent USAGM from ignoring the will of Congress. We look forward to further advancing our case that it’s unconstitutional to deny us the funds that Congress has appropriated to RFE/RL for the rest of the fiscal year.”
Lamberth wrote that he planned to rule on a RFE/RL’s motion for a preliminary injunction which, if granted, would ensure that the outlet received about $77 million in funding for the rest of the fiscal year. He set Wednesday for the Trump administration to issue opposition briefs, and Friday for RFE/RL’s reply.
In his ruling, Lamberth noted that RFE/RL provided news reporting to 23 countries across Europe, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.
RFE/RL had also sought the immediate disbursement of $7.47 million in funds to cover its operational costs in the first half of March, before Trump signed the executive order. After initially opposing the disbursement, the administration said that the payments would be made by Wednesday.
Other outlets overseen by USAGM also have greatly scaled back their operations, including Radio Free Asia.
In his first term, Trump’s pick to run U.S. Agency for Global Media, Michael Pack, attempted to exert more control over the broadcasting outlets. He fired leaders of the broadcast entities and attempted to rescind a “firewall” regulation to protect reporters from political interference. A judge later ruled that Pack could not interfere in the editorial operations of the entities.
Trump initially nominated Brent Bozell to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media this term, but that nomination was withdrawn this week.
