This photo, taken on March 18, 2025, shows the logo on the facade of the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL) in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by AFP)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, which is seeking to block the termination of federal funding designated for Washington-backed media outlets, including its own.
Filed on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, DC, the lawsuit asserts that the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has violated both the Constitution and federal laws by withholding funds that Congress explicitly allocated for RFE/RL.
The lawsuit names USAGM, along with Senior Adviser Kari Lake and Acting Chief Executive Victor Morales, as defendants. "This case challenges a federal agency's refusal to abide by Congress's power of the purse," the lawsuit states, emphasizing that the agency is legally obligated to distribute the funding.
RFE/RL claims its funding has been frozen, and it has not received a $7.4 million invoice submitted just the day before the lawsuit was filed. This freeze, according to the suit, undermines Congress's authority over fiscal matters.
David Kligerman, a former general counsel for USAGM who left the agency as Trump began his second term, remarked that RFE/RL had no choice but to pursue legal action. He noted that the relationship between the government and media organizations like RFE/RL is meant to be one of cooperation rather than conflict.
The lawsuit highlights recent actions taken by Lake, who over the weekend moved to shut down operations for the Voice of America and Radio/TV Marti, which are owned by the federal government.
She also revoked contracts distributing the federal funds allocated to RFE/RL and similar organizations, including Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. These changes align with Lake’s previous statements expressing the need for "dramatic reform" within the USAGM.
In a tweet earlier this week, Lake said, "There's too much rot in the United States Agency for Global Media to salvage," reflecting her administration's intention to reshape the agency.
Tensions heightened on Friday as Congress approved a temporary spending bill that ensured ongoing funding for the USAGM and its affiliated networks. Shortly thereafter, the White House responded with an executive order instructing the USAGM to confine its operations to those explicitly required by law.
Concurrently, over 1,300 employees of Voice of America were placed on leave following the President’s directive to significantly reduce staff at the USAGM and other federal agencies.
The Trump administration has characterized the funding cuts as a necessary move to decrease federal bureaucracy.
Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump and a vocal advocate for government job reductions, has previously called for the closure of RFE/RL, dismissing it as "just radical left crazy people talking to themselves" in a post on the social media platform X.
The USAGM has terminated its grants to RFE/RL, which broadcasts to Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as to Radio Free Asia, which covers China, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. The network is part of a broader historical effort initiated in 1950 to convey American ideals in the Soviet Union and now is broadcast in countries where the US intends to impose its soft power on their nation.
