Radio Free Europe sues Trump administration over grant termination

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — the US-funded news outlet set up to reach people under communism during the Cold War — said on Tuesday it has sued the administration of President Donald Trump to block the termination of the media outlet's federal grant.

The US Agency for Global Media has terminated its grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as to Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea.

The move was widely criticised over the weekend by advocates of press freedom and human rights.

More than 1,300 Voice of America employees were also placed on leave on Saturday, after Trump ordered the gutting of the government-funded media outlet's parent USAGM and six other federal agencies.

"The complaint [on Tuesday] makes the case that denying RFE/RL the funds that Congress appropriated for it violates federal laws — including the US constitution, which vests Congress with exclusive power over federal spending," the news outlet said in a statement.

"This is not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America's adversaries," RFE/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus said.

The case was filed in US district court for the District of Columbia.

Trump's administration touted its move as a cutback on federal bureaucracy. Trump ally Elon Musk, his point man for cutting federal jobs, called for RFE/RL to be shut down in a post on X last month. "It's just radical left crazy people talking to themselves," Musk posted.

Since taking office in January, Trump has ordered cost-cutting in various federal agencies. Musk has overseen that drive.

RadioFree Europe/Radio Liberty on its website says its mission is to provide "uncensored, trusted news to audiences in 23 countries where a free press is under threat".

Reuters