Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) will receive $7.46 million from the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), its parent government organization, the broadcaster announced.
The grant money, partially withheld by the Trump administration, will now be released to the financially strained RFE/RL, the broadcaster stated on Monday. USAGM will release $7.46 million.
Kari Lake, a Trump appointee and special advisor to USAGM, has stated her intention to downsize the agency to the smallest legally permissible size, calling it “a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer” and claiming it is “not salvageable.” She also alleges to have discovered various irregularities within the agency, including “massive national security violations” and purported infiltration by spies and terrorist sympathizers.
The allocated funds cover the period from March 1 to 14, the day before President Trump signed an executive order that effectively curtailed USAGM operations.
“We hope the imminent disbursement of two weeks’ worth of funding that Congress appropriated to RFE/RL will keep our lights on until the court rules on the broader case,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said.
“It is unlawful to deny us the funds that Congress has already appropriated to RFE/RL for the rest of this fiscal year,” he added.
However, Abigail Stout, a US Justice Department lawyer representing USAGM, argued that the agency has the right to terminate the grant if RFE/RL violates the International Broadcasting Act. “The statute actually contemplates that the agency could terminate a grant,” she said.
Founded in the early 1950s by CIA front organizations, Radio Free Europe (RFE) broadcast pro-Western propaganda to Eastern Europe, while Radio Liberty (RL) focused on the Soviet Union. They merged into a single entity in the 1970s.
USAGM oversees US-funded international media outlets, including RFE/RL, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia, and other foreign-focused non-profit media entities financed by the US budget. While these outlets maintain they provide unbiased coverage in approximately 100 countries, they are widely considered Washington’s propaganda arms.
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