A federal judge ordered the Trump administration Tuesday to restore $12 million in funding that the US Congress had approved for the pro-democracy media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Anadolu reported.
US District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a temporary restraining order for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to distribute funds for April 2025 for RFE/RL pending an outcome of a lawsuit to keep the station on the air. It was the first time in 75 years that the news outlet was at risk of going dark.
"In interviews, podcasts and op-eds, people from both inside and outside government have variously accused the courts -- myself included -- of fomenting a constitutional crisis, usurping the Article II powers of the Presidency, undercutting the popular will, or dictating how Executive agencies can and should be run,” wrote Lamberth, who was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, in his ruling.
Lamberth implored that the three branches of American government -- executive, judicial and legislative -- had a system of checks and balances established by the US Constitution that must remain intact if the United States was going to continue to thrive and emphasized that the Trump administration could not unilaterally revoke funding approved by Congress.
"Reasonable people can reach different conclusions in complicated legal disputes such as this," he said, explaining that is why the appellate courts exist. The judge also noted that the Trump administration could also ask Congress to pull back the funds.
Lawyers for Radio Free Europe said the Trump administration had terminated nearly all of its contracts with freelance journalists, missed payments on leases and furloughed 122 employees. They added that more workers would be furloughed and more contracts would be canceled on May 1 if funding was not restored.
"By the end of May, RFE/RL will be forced to cancel the contracts supporting its core live news broadcasting and reporting operations. In June 2025, RFE/RL will almost entirely cease its operations," said RFE/RL attorneys.
Government attorneys argued that the judge does not have jurisdiction over what they said amounted to a contract dispute that belongs in Federal Claims Court.
"Plaintiff seeks to place this Court as the arbiter of the grant agreement terms between the parties. But doing so would put the Court in an improper policymaking role," they wrote.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started broadcasting during the Cold War. Its programs are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Its corporate headquarters are based in Washington, DC and its journalistic headquarters are based in the Czech Republic.
The Trump administration has attempted to make massive cuts at other government-operated, pro-democracy media outlets, including Voice of America (VOA). Lambert last week granted a temporary injunction to block the administration from dismantling VOA.
Lamberth said he does not have a stake in the outcome of this case and added that he does not have any animosity toward the president nor loyalty to the media outlets, emphasizing that his oath as a federal judge is to make impartial decisions and the role of the courts is to interpret the laws of the Constitution and declare what the law is.
By issuing the ruling, "I am humbly fulfilling my small part in this very constitutional paradigm -- a framework that has propelled the United States to heights of greatness, liberty and prosperity unparalleled in the history of the world for nearly 250 years," he said.
"If our nation is to thrive for another 250 years, each co-equal branch of government must be willing to courageously exert the authority entrusted to it by our Founders."