A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Trump's push to shut down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a federally funded news organization that was born out of America's efforts to counter Soviet propaganda during the Cold War.
Judge Lois C. Lambers, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a temporary restraining order, saying that the Trump administration could not unilaterally shut down the RFE/RL, even if the president orders the shutdown.
Judge Lamberth said the administration cannot overturn Congress, which is “one sentence that gives news outlets a statutory mandate that promotes freedom of opinion and expression, effectively providing no explanation.”
Judge Lambers mentioned a March 15 letter to RFE/RL from the Trump administration that said broadcasters were no longer needed as government priorities changed. The letter did not elaborate except citing Trump's instructions to shut down federal agencies.
Due to a temporary restraining order, RFE/RL will remain open until at least March 28th. Judge Lamberth then decides whether to issue an interim injunction that will allow the news outlet to continue working until the court reaches its final judgment.
Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were founded in the 1950s as a US intelligence report work secretly funded through the Central Intelligence Agency. The broadcasting station sought to promote anti-communist opposition behind the iron curtains.
It has been funded by Congress since the early 1970s and has been editorial independence. Today, RFE/RL reports in 30 different languages, reaching 47 million people each week in 23 countries, including Afghanistan, Russia and Hungary.
“The court concluded that, in line with the legislative long-standing decisions, the ongoing operation of the RFE/RL is in the public interest,” Judge Lambers wrote.
Judge Lamberth was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
His ruling partially blocks the Trump administration's push to shut down US global media agencies, the pro-agency of news agencies.
The letter to the RFE/RL came the day after Trump signed an executive order to dismantle media agencies in an effort to end almost $7.5 million in grants. News organizations are private nonprofits that receive most of their funds from the federal government.
“This award no longer affects agency priorities,” the letter states.
Judge Lamberth wrote Tuesday that the letter did not provide sufficient explanation as to why news outlets established by Congress should close in such a one-sided way.
Trump administration officials “acted on arbitrarily and on a whim,” he wrote. “The “explanation” provided by USAGM is hardly characterized as an explanation. ”
The letter was signed by Kari Lake, the special advisor to the agency who appears to be leading the push to gut it. Lake, who was hired in February, is a former Senate candidate and local news anchor who used false claims that the 2020 elections were consolidated.
Lake was originally appointed by Trump as the next director of America's Voice of America in December. She was employed instead as a special advisor to a media agency. This is because legal experts questioned whether Trump could fire the voice of the current American director.
Her appointment was fearful that the Trump administration would interfere with editorial decisions from federally funded news agencies. The global media agency has also launched an investigation into journalists to report criticism of Trump and make comments that are perceived as criticising him.
During his first term, Trump attacked the media under global media agencies over editorial decisions, and his appointees were accused of trying to undermine journalistic safeguards.
In 2020, Trump appointed Michael Pack, an ally of his former aide Stephen K. Bannon, to run the media agency.
Puck was accused of trying to turn the American voice into a Trump administration mouthpiece, and a federal judge ruled that Puck violated the outlet journalist's initial right to amend. A federal investigation found that Puck had severely mismanaged his media agency and repeatedly abused his powers by executive executives who felt he had not fully supported Trump.
On Monday, Trump retracted the nomination of conservative media critic and fierce Israeli advocate L. Brent Bozell III, and led the media agency. He instead appointed Bozel as South Africa's next US ambassador.
