US court orders government to fund Radio Liberty
20 July 2025 12:03
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled in favor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in a case against the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) over the delay in funding allocated by Congress.
This was reported by RFE/RL, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
As noted, Judge Royce Lambert ruled that the USAGM must pay RFE/RL the balance of the funds allocated for the 2025 fiscal year and found that the agency’s attempt to impose new onerous grant conditions and refusal to negotiate in good faith were illegal.
“It is unprecedented for an agency to demand that entirely new terms and conditions govern its longstanding working relationship with a grantee and then cease to comply, especially when the agency is required by law to allocate funds appropriated by Congress to a particular entity each year,” the judge said in a statement.
The delay in funding has already resulted in massive layoffs, program cancellations, and threats to RFE/RL’s global presence, the judge said.
RFE/RL President Steve Capus called the ruling the culmination of a long legal effort and an important step in continuing the company’s mission.
“This victory gives our journalists the momentum they need to continue to reach the nearly 47 million people who rely on our journalism every week to get the facts and counter the malicious propaganda of authoritarian governments,” he said, adding that the information space should not be given away to tyrants.
The total budget of the USAGM for 2025 is $950 million, of which about $153 million is provided for RFE/RL. The agency controls the activities of such media as Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and others.
