U.S. Government Media Receives Emergency Financial Aid
The cash-strapped U.S. government broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is
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The cash-strapped U.S. government broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is set to receive $7.46 million in emergency funding from its parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). This grant is part of the funds that were previously withheld by former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump-appointed special advisor to USAGM, Kari Lake, has vowed to reduce the agency to its minimum legal size, calling it “a significant burden on American taxpayers” and arguing that it “cannot be saved.” Lake has also alleged the presence of national security breaches, espionage, and infiltration by terrorist sympathizers within the agency.
The $7.46 million grant will cover the period from March 1 to March 14, just one day before Trump signed an executive order that effectively sought to shut down USAGM operations.
In response, RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus stated, "We hope that the imminent disbursement of the two-week congressional funding for RFE/RL will allow us to sustain operations until a broader legal resolution is reached." He also asserted that withholding the funds already allocated to RFE/RL for the rest of the fiscal year is "unlawful."
However, Abigail Stout, a lawyer representing USAGM for the U.S. Department of Justice, argued that the agency has the legal right to terminate the grant if RFE/RL violates the provisions of the International Broadcasting Act. "In fact, the law contemplates that the agency may terminate the grant," she said.
Notably, RFE/RL was originally established in the early 1950s by the CIA to broadcast pro-Western propaganda in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The two entities merged into a single organization in the 1970s.
Currently, USAGM oversees several U.S. state-funded international media outlets, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia, and other nonprofit organizations focused on foreign audiences, all funded through the U.S. federal budget. While these outlets claim to provide impartial coverage in over 100 countries, they are widely regarded as Washington’s propaganda arm.
