Lake rescinded the order to end a legal standoff with the organization after Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the claim of an Administrative Procedure Act violation was likely to succeed on its merits. The move marks a defeat for the Trump administration’s efforts to end U.S.-funded media, which the administration believes push left-wing propaganda.
“Plaintiff has secured the primary relief — withdrawing the termination of its grant agreement — that it requested in the complaint. Now that Plaintiff has received that relief, Defendants’ position is that this matter is now moot,” Lake’s attorney wrote.
Lake sent a letter to RFE/RL on Wednesday announcing the decision.
“This precision is without prejudice to USAGM’s authority to terminate the grant at a later date if USAGM were to determine that such termination was appropriate under the applicable law,” she wrote.
In his Tuesday ruling, Lamberth wrote that the attempted liquidation of RFE/RL was contrary to the position of Congress, which appropriates funds for the organization every year.
“The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down — even if the President has told them to do so,” he wrote.
JUDGE BLOCKS KARI LAKE AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM PULLING RADIO FREE EUROPE FUNDING
President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month drastically cutting USAGM and other U.S.-funded organizations. Lake told the organization to disband in a March 15 letter, citing a shift in the government’s priorities.
The White House had grown incensed with USAGM’s outlets, particularly Voice of America, which operates under the same umbrella as RFE/RL. A March 15 press release titled “The Voice of Radical America” cited several VOA articles as evidence of alleged liberal bias, including one on “white privilege” and a video about transgender migrants seeking to enter the United States.
