Judge Orders Trump Admin to Disburse $12 Million in Funding to Radio Free Europe

The judge stated that the administration’s actions to terminate Radio Free Europe’s grants agreement ‘threatens the very existence’ of the news group.

The headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, Czech Republic, on March 18, 2025. Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge ruled on April 29 that the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) must disburse the funding appropriated by Congress to the nonprofit news organization Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary restraining order sought by the media group, directing USAGM to immediately disburse over $12 million in funding for the month of April to Radio Free Europe.

Lamberth said the plaintiff had shown it would suffer irreparable harm absent a restraining order, noting that USAGM’s actions to terminate the grants agreement “threaten the very existence” of the group.

The judge also stated that Radio Free Europe is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that USAGM had violated the Administrative Procedure Act by terminating the grants agreement.

Lamberth said the Trump administration must seek congressional approval to take such action, noting that it “has no residual constitutional power to refuse” to spend appropriations by Congress.

“It is, after all, Congress that makes the laws in this country. In this case, for example, it was Congress who ordained that the monies at issue should be allocated to RFE/RL,” Lamberth stated, referring to the acronym for Radio Free Europe.

The judge also determined that USAGM’s decision to change the grant agreement after the start of the fiscal year was “arbitrary and capricious.”

According to the court order, USAGM presented “a radically different grant agreement” in mid-April, leaving little time for a meaningful negotiation as Radio Free Europe was running out of funding.

“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,” Lamberth stated.

USAGM moved to terminate Radio Free Europe’s grant agreement following President Donald Trump’s order directing officials to eliminate non-statutory components of the agency. USAGM has an annual budget of around $900 million and operates networks broadcasting in more than 60 languages and around 100 countries.

The cutbacks affect the organizations and agencies under its umbrella, including Voice of America (VOA); the Office of Cuba Broadcasting; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and other organizations such as Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

Radio Free Europe was established during the Cold War to broadcast news to the Soviet Union. It describes itself as a “private, independent international news organization whose programs—radio, Internet, television, and mobile—reach a weekly audience of nearly 50 million people in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus.”

The organization filed a lawsuit against USAGM on March 18 and subsequently sought a temporary restraining order to block the funding cancellation.

Government lawyers have previously argued that the dispute is over a contract and can only be adjudicated by the Court of Federal Claims. The lawyers also said that while Congress makes funding available for grants to Radio Free Europe, there is no mandated sum within the appropriations specifically for the organization.

Stephen Capus, president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, welcomed the ruling and said that they hope to receive the funding quickly. Capus said the group had to furlough staff and scale back some of its programming due to the funding cut.

“Every day that USAGM withholds money further endangers our journalists, including four who are currently in prison,” Capus said in a statement. “We will remain in court and look forward to working with USAGM to ensure that we’ll be paid for the rest of the fiscal year.”

The Epoch Times reached out to USAGM for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.