WASHINGTON -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)said it has sued the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), along with USAGM officials Kari Lake and Victor Morales, to block their attempt to terminate RFE/RL’s federal grant, which provides the broadcaster with funds to operate.
The complaint, filed on March 18, argues that denying the funds Congress has appropriated for RFE/RL violates federal laws and the US Constitution, which gives Congress exclusive authority over federal spending.
The suit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
SEE ALSO: Trump Signs Executive Order For Major Cuts To 7 Agencies, Including RFE/RL Overseer USAGM"This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America's adversaries," RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said.
"We believe the law is on our side and that the celebration of our demise by despots around the world is premature," he added.
Morales is acting CEO of USAGM, while Lake is a senior adviser to Morales.
Word of the suit comes as European Union politicians said they are continuing their push into possible support for RFE/RL after the US government moved to cut the Prague-based broadcaster's funding amid concerns its closure would be a blow to pro-democracy media.
Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak told reporters in Brussels that several nations have supported the initiative so far but that the bloc must act quickly as "it would be a big mistake to let this institution die."
"We must initiate some interest and meet with commissioners and some states. At this point, that initiative has been supported by seven other nations, and after we make the initiative public at the General Affairs Council, more countries will join us," Dvorak said, adding the issue needs to be resolved in a matter of "several weeks."
At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.
EU Countries Voice Support Of RFE/RL
While Dvorak said he did not want to reveal the names of the countries that have voiced their support for the move, diplomatic sources told RFE/RL that Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the three Baltic nations are among those who support the initiative.
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EU Ministers Discuss RFE/RL Funding After US Grant Cut
In a show of solidarity and support, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement on March 19 that it is "deeply concerned" by the U.S. government’s move to end funding for RFE/RL and "close down an important source of reliable news in multiple languages for many millions of people."
“We stand in solidarity with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and hundreds of journalists at risk – and also with their audiences who depend on their independent reporting and broadcasting,” said Liz Corbin, director of news at the EBU.
“For many years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has contributed valuable content and context to the Eurovision News Exchange from some of the most difficult places for news media to work. In the face of propaganda, censorship and manipulation, every outlet that serves the public good with trusted information must be protected and properly funded.”
RFE/RL's Cold War History
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.
"It's how we learned the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."
Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including USAGM, which oversees RFE/RL and other federal broadcasters.
The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.
Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL had been terminated.
RFE/RL chief Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.
"Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is an important source of independent and fact-based news. We echo Czechia's call for joint EU support to make sure RFE/RL can continue its operations - promoting democratic values and press freedom, and countering foreign information manipulation," Caspar Veldkamp, foreign minister of the Netherlands, said in a social media post on March 19.
'Critical Lifeline'
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."
“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US-supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."
The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.
The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.
This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.
The 2025 budget request for RFE/RL itself was about $153 million, according to USAGM documents.
RFE/RL operates in 23 countries and 27 languages across Central and Eastern Europe, the Near East, and Central Asia.