Judge temporarily blocks defunding of Radio Free Europe
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from shutting down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
U.S. Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday afternoon that blocked the dismantling of the organization, finding the Trump administration’s attempt to defund the group was “unsupported by any facts or reasoning” and likely violated federal law.
“The leadership of [United States Agency for Global Media] 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,” wrote Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee.
Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order directing multiple agencies including the US Agency for Global Media – which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – to reduce to cut their functions to the minimum required by law. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty sued last week to block the Trump administration from terminating its federal funding.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous