Trump Admin Stalls On Funding For RFE

The Trump administration has continued to withhold congressionally approved funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a news network founded to counter Soviet propaganda, despite a judge’s order to keep it running. Facing a March 2025 executive order to cut "non-statutory" spending, RFE/RL sued the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) after it threatened to end grants. 

On March 25, Judge Royce Lamberth issued a restraining order, ruling the cuts unlawful, and the USAGM released $7.5 million but has since delayed April’s $12 million, forcing staff furloughs and program cuts. USAGM head Kari Lake cites oversight concerns, but critics argue this defies Congress and weakens U.S. influence abroad as RFE/RL fights to survive.

Kari Lake

This delay has forced RFE/RL to furlough staff and cut programming, straining its operations across Europe and Asia, where its journalists—five of whom are currently jailed in autocratic nations—face significant risks to deliver independent reporting. RFE/RL’s general counsel, Benjamin Herman, emphasized the urgency, stating, “Our journalists… rely on the timely disbursement of these congressionally appropriated funds.” The network’s president, Stephen Capus, has vowed to remain in court until all funds are released, highlighting the broader stakes: abandoning RFE/RL could cede influence to adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran, who have long targeted its operations.

Kari Lake, in a statement, justified the delay as an effort to enhance oversight and curb alleged "waste, fraud, and abuse" among USAGM grantees, though she provided no specific evidence. Critics, including lawmakers and rights advocates, argue this stance defies both Congress’s "power of the purse" and Lamberth’s order, potentially undermining U.S. soft power at a time of heightened global competition.

Meanwhile, sister outlets like VOA, a federal agency directly employing government staff, remain silenced—replaced by music—while RFA faces similar funding cuts, with 75% of its U.S.-based staff furloughed.