The Moscow RFE/RL office, 6 April 2021. Photo: Yevgeniya Novozhenina / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
Lawyers for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) have filed a lawsuit against the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) over its termination of RFE/RL’s congressionally-approved funding, the broadcaster announced in a statement on Tuesday.
The lawsuit against USAGM, which also names acting CEO Victor Morales and his special advisor Kari Lake, who signed off on the decision, claims that the defunding of RFE/RL violates several federal laws, as well as the US Constitution, which give Congress exclusive authority over federal spending. The case will be heard in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
“Whether to disburse funds…is not an optional choice for [USAGM] make. It is the law,” RFE/RL said in the lawsuit, stressing that “statutory function” compelled USAGM to disburse funds as directed by existing appropriations laws.
“This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America’s adversaries. We believe the law is on our side and that the celebration of our demise by despots around the world is premature,” said RFE/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus in the press release.
On Saturday, USAGM terminated the federal grant that for the past 80 years has funded RFE/RL and Voice of America (VOA), as part of the Trump administration’s ruthless pursuit of federal budget cuts. Both broadcasters placed their staff on paid leave shortly after the decision was announced.
“Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week won’t have access to the truth about America and the world,” Capus warned on Saturday.
