Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is suing the United States Agency for Global Media to block the termination of its federal grant.
The action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also names Acting CEO Victor Morales and Senior Advisor Kari Lake.
“The complaint makes the case that denying RFE/RL the funds that Congress appropriated for it violates federal laws — including the U.S. Constitution, which vests Congress with exclusive power over federal spending,” RFE/RL wrote in a press release.
RFE/RL President/CEO Stephen said in a statement, “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.”
Radio World reached out to USAGM for comment and will report any reply.
On March 15, Kari Lake said that “waste, fraud and abuse run rampant” in USAGM. She alleged that the agency had been victimized by “massive national security violations, including spies and terrorist sympathizers and/or supporters infiltrating the agency,” that it had issued “eye-popping self-dealing involving contracts, grants and high-value settlement agreements,” spent hundreds of millions on “fake news companies” and put out a product that “often parrots the talking points of America’s adversaries.” She canceled the lease on a new downtown Washington headquarters that had been announced last year.
She said then that USAGM “would continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview and shed everything that is not statutorily required.” She said then that the actions being taken affected the agency as well as its grantees.
In the most recent full-year budget, according to the suit, Congress appropriated $857.2 million for USAGM, of which $142.2 million was allocated for RFE/RL.
According to its website, “RFE/RL’s mission is to promote democratic values by providing accurate, uncensored news and open debate in countries where a free press is threatened and disinformation is pervasive. RFE/RL reports the facts, undaunted by pressure. While historically known for radio broadcasting behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, today’s RFE/RL seeks to reach audiences where they are, prioritizing digital platforms and innovative censorship circumvention strategies.”
The organization HQ is in Washington while its journalistic efforts are based in Prague, Czech Republic. It reports to 23 countries in Europe and Asia.
Filing suit against USAGM is unusual, to say the least, and reflects the dramatic developments that have been taking place around U.S. international broadcasting in Washington.
RFE/RL Inc. is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation funded by Congress through a grant from USAGM. That body in turn is nominally an independent federal government agency that oversees U.S. civilian international media including Voice of America and Radio and TV Martí. RFE/RL is a grantee, as are Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
“In unmistakable terms, Congress has appropriated funds specifically for RFE/RL Inc. … and expressly directed the United States Agency for Global Media to make those funds available to RFE/RL in the form of annual grants,” the suit states. That includes $77 million specifically for RFE/RL in the continuing resolution most recently passed by Congress to keep the government operating.
“That agency is now refusing to disburse the appropriated funds on the basis that it is ending its ‘non-statutory’ functions. But funding Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a statutory function of the United States Agency for Global Media. Whether to disburse funds as directed by appropriations laws, and whether to make those funds available through grants as directed by the International Broadcasting Act, is not an optional choice for the agency to make. It is the law. Urgent relief is needed to compel the agency to follow the law.”
It said it has already been forced to significantly cut back operations and, barring relief, will soon be forced to lay off staff, terminate freelancer contracts and terminate its leases. It notes that it has a payment due on its lease in Prague on April 1 and that USAGM itself shares that obligation, so withholding funds stands to hurt that agency too.
Among other concerns, RFE/RL told the court that some of its cyber defense tools rely on licenses that may soon lapse without payment. “Any data breach will risk exposing the personal information of journalists working in authoritarian states, putting their security, and potentially their lives, at risk. …
“More broadly, RFE/RL exists to provide independent news coverage that is outside the control of the governments in the countries where it operates. Ceasing news coverage, even temporarily, will allow the state-controlled or state-influenced media in these countries to fill the gap with coverage that is skewed towards the particular narratives favorable to the local governments, rather than objective reporting.”
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