Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is continuing legal action against the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to secure the release of congressionally appropriated funding, it said in a statement on March 28.
USAGM oversees RFE/RL, Voice of America (VOA), and other US international media.
The USAGM claimed to terminate RFE/RL’s grant on March 15, hours after an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump called for the reduction of seven agencies -- including the USAGM -- to “the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
On March 26, USAGM wrote to RFE/RL saying that it was reversing the announcement but that this was “without prejudice to USAGM’s authority to terminate the grant.”
RFE/RL’s lawsuit maintains that USAGM does not have this authority, since the grant was awarded by an act of Congress.
A statement released by RFE/RL on March 27 said “RFE/RL awaits official confirmation from USAGM that grant funding will resume.”
The new statement on March 28 made it clear that this had not yet happened.
“We look forward to receiving the funds that Congress has appropriated to us through the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Until then, we will pursue all necessary legal remedies to ensure that Congressional intent is respected,” it said.
The statement also said RFE/RL’s commitment to its audiences and congressionally mandated mission "remains steadfast.”
On March 25, a US court granted RFE/RL’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), ruling that USAGM had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in terminating RFE/RL’s grant.
The grant's termination was communicated in a letter signed by Kari Lake, who listed her title as “Senior Advisor to the (USAGM) Acting CEO with Authorities Delegated by Acting CEO.”
After writing to RFE/RL on March 26, Lake continued to criticize RFE/RL and other USAGM entities.
SEE ALSO: VOA Sues Overseer USAGM To Restore Operations After Trump Order“The question to the American people is do you want your hard-earned tax dollars going to this type of propaganda? I’m fighting it right now at the US Agency for Global Media and it’s going to be a battle,” she told Newsmax.
In a subsequent interview on One America News, Lake said that she had not yet had time to review the journalism of USAGM entities.
A federal judge in New York later on March 28 criticized USAGM's leadership, including Lake, for pulling the plug “seemingly overnight” on VOA and other news organizations run by the USAGM with “no consideration of the effects.”
Judge James Paul Oetken's comments came in an order blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle VOA, calling the move a “classic case of arbitrary and capricious decision making.”
Oetken faulted the Trump administration for “taking a sledgehammer to an agency that has been statutorily authorized and funded by Congress."
In a win for VOA, the judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the agency from “any further attempt to terminate, reduce-in-force, place on leave, or furlough” employees or contractors, and from closing any offices or requiring overseas employees to return to the United States.
“This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a sharp rebuke” to the Trump administration’s “utter disregard for the principles that define our democracy,” said Andrew G. Celli Jr., a lawyer for VOA.
Celli represents a coalition of VOA journalists, labor unions, and Reporters Without Borders that sued the Trump administration after Trump issued the executive order that cut funding to the USAGM and six other unrelated federal entities as part of his campaign to shrink government and align its with his political agenda.
According to the lawsuit, VOA employees were told to finish their live broadcasts on March 15 then vacate the building. Soon after, the lawsuit said, they lost access to agency computer systems, including e-mail. VOA news website hasn’t been updated since.
The plaintiffs argued that in the absence of VOA's programming “propagandists whose messages will monopolize global airwaves” is filling the vacuum.
Trump and other Republicans have accused VOA of having a “leftist bias” and failing to project “pro-American” values to its worldwide audience, even though it is mandated by Congress to serve as a nonpartisan news organization.
Lake, a former television journalist, has been especially harsh in her characterization of the content produced by VOA, RFE/RL, and the other news organizations.
“We want to make sure that these agencies are in line with what our American values are. We’re telling America’s story. We’re not telling our adversaries’ stories.”
“By God," she said, “we’re not going to be putting out anti-American garbage.”
Separately on March 28, Radio Free Asia (RFA), another of USAGM's stakeholders, said it would shut down by the end of April if the courts did not prevent the Trump administration from cutting its funding.
RFA has filed a motion to stop the USAGM's termination of funding and ensure access to funds appropriated by Congress.
"The filing emphasizes the irreparable harm being done to RFA’s operations, its reputation, and its ability to protect journalists reporting from some of the most dangerous parts of the world," it said in a statement.
"Without court intervention, RFA is expected to fully shut down by the end of April."
RFA said it has already furloughed 75 percent of its US-based staffed and suspended more than 90 percent of its freelance journalists.
The agency has broadcast across Asia since 1996. Rights activists say its multilingual reporters provide reliable news in authoritarian countries, raising awareness about the plight of oppressed minorities such as Uyghur Muslims in China.