Trump cut the funds in the middle of communication. Judge considered the government decision “arbitrary and capricious”, given that this year’s budget had already been approved by the United States Congress
An American federal judge ordered on Friday the suspension of President Donald Trump’s initiative to dismantle the federal agency that manages the country’s public media abroad, covering the voice of America (Voa).
Trump administration began on March 15 to make VOA cuts and in other international “media” from the US government, giving instructions to reduce the duties of various agencies to the minimum required by law, including the US agency for global “media (USAGM), which encompasses fly, Free Europe/Radio Liberdade (RFE/RL) and Radio Asia Livre and Radio Marti, which broadcast news to Cuba to Cuba.
A US district judge on Tuesday the Trump administration of cutting federal funds to RFE/RL, created and funded by Congress to promote free information and democracy.
Today, after the initial hearing of the VOA case, the federal judge of Manhattan (New York) J. Paul Oetken announced that he would issue a temporary restriction order of the government decision, considering it “arbitrary and capricious”, as this year’s budget had already been approved by the United States Congress.
Oetken thus upheld a request from the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the unions and journalists of VOA to freeze efforts to dismantle the main means of US public communication abroad.
VOA journalists lawyers argued in court that the White House decision violates the right to freedom of expression.
Following the decision, Clayton Weimers, head of the RSF office in the United States, called on the Trump administration to “immediately unlock VOA’s financing and renovate its employees without further delay.”
“The struggle to save the fly and, in fact, the free press, continues while the Trump administration strives to deprive the world from a source of reliable information,” he said.
Seeking to block the end of its allocation, RF/RL filed a lawsuit last week against Usagm, the president of this Kari Lake and another employee, Victor Morales, claiming that the agency violates federal law by trying to cut the financing, as radios are funded by Congress through the 1973 International Broadcasting Act.
In a statement issued on Thursday, RFE/RL states that, following this first judicial victory, Usagm “removed its letter of termination of the concession agreement” of these means for the fiscal year of 2025.
“This is an encouraging sign that RFE/RL operations may continue, as Congress intended. We await the official confirmation of USAGM that the allocation of the appropriation will be resumed quickly,” said Radios director Stephen Capus.
According to RFE/RL, it is now expected that the Court decides “in the coming weeks” about the merits of the case and the payment of the remaining $ 77 million from the annual subsidy awarded to 2025 by Congress.
Radio Asia Livre, in turn, started the procedures on Thursday.
Together, Voa, RFE/RL and other means reached about 427 million people.
Its origin dates back to the Cold War and is part of a network of organizations funded by the US government that is trying to expand US influence and combat authoritarianism.
Donald Trump said this week that he would “very very much” and would be “honored” for cutting out the funding of the country’s radio and public television, respectively NPR and PBS, as he did with Voa.
“It would be an honor for me to end this,” Trump said before journalists in the White House, referring to NPR and PBS, which he qualified as “very unfair” and “very biased.”
“It’s a waste of money,” said Trump, stressing that he would “love” to remove federal financing from both means, which also depend on donations.
