Radio Liberty strikes back at Trump, who wants to strangle it financially.

BarcelonaRadio Liberty refuses to die. It seemed that Trump's chainsaw, through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), had touched and sunk the legendary radio station, but on March 25, the judge granted a victory to the station and stopped the attempt to defund Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Everything pointed to the end of RFE/RL when, suddenly, USAGM cut off the funding Congress had agreed to in the state budget. The radio station challenged the agency's decision, and on March 24, a court hearing was held, resulting in a first victory for the station. Thus, on March 24, USAGM released the $7.5 million it had not paid, corresponding to the period from March 1 to 15, when the White House announced the funding had been canceled. Now the victory is even greater for RFE/RL, as the judge has granted injunctions until he makes a final decision on whether it is unconstitutional for USAGM to withhold the $77 million Congress had allocated as the radio station's budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, among other things, to pay its 1,700 employees. These measures prevent the radio station's funding from being interrupted, even temporarily. In his reasoning, the judge explains that cutting off the flow of money could cause "irreparable harm" to the station, and that, therefore, a ruling in favor of RFE/RL would be futile because it would already be gone.

"The court concludes, consistent with Congress's longstanding determination, that the continued operation of RFE/RL is in the public interest," the ruling states. Judge Royce Lamberth of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia justified his decision in this way. Steve Capus, president and CEO of RFE/RL, celebrated the move: "We appreciate Judge Lamberth's thoughtful and unequivocal decision preventing USAGM from ignoring the will of Congress. We look forward to making further progress in our case. It is unconstitutional to deny us the funds Congress has allocated to RFE/RL for the remainder of the fiscal year."

On March 15, the White House issued a statement called The voice of radical America (The Voice of Radical America, in Catalan) in which it reported that, by executive order of Trump, funding was cut to USAGM, the parent company of Radio Liberty, and also to Voice of America (VOA), among others, for "leftist bias." Although RFE/RL is funded by Congress through grants, its legal status is a private company. Voice of America, on the other hand, has not been so lucky: on Saturday the 15th, all VOA employees received an email informing them, bluntly, that they were suspended from work and asking them not to use its facilities again, including workers at the Office of Cuban Broadcasting, which managed Radio and Television. According to the VOA director, some 1,300 employees were affected, including journalists, producers, and support staff. Employees later lost access to company applications and email, and those who went to work at the Washington headquarters were denied access. VOA can still be heard on its designated frequencies, but only music plays.

Since its creation in 1950, Radio Liberty has broadcast news to countries with limited or nonexistent press freedom, such as Afghanistan, Russia, and Pakistan. It played a key role during the Cold War, allowing broadcasters to break the news blackouts of communist regimes that practiced systematic censorship, thanks to shortwave broadcasts that could easily cross borders. Although this role is now a thing of the past in Europe, it still broadcasts to 23 countries in 27 languages and has a weekly audience of 50 million listeners worldwide. The European Union is considering supporting the station, although the EU's foreign policy chief said it could not automatically fill the gap.

Other stations and groups managed by USAGM have also taken legal action to avoid losing their funding. Six VOA journalists have sued Kari Lake, a senior advisor to Trump at USAGM, and the Trump administration. They consider the measures to shut down their outlet illegal and unconstitutional, according to National Public Radio. When VOA terminated their employment, the journalists claimed that the government's actions violated their First Amendment rights and their freedom of expression. USAGM also operates the independent organization Open Technology Fund (OTF), which funds technology for internet freedom and allows journalists and the public uncensored internet access. OTF believes USAGM is illegally withholding grant funds authorized by Congress and has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order USAGM to end its refusal to fund Open Technology. This company is much smaller than RFE/RL, which only has 32 full-time employees. Radio Free Asia (RFA) has also sued USAGM for attempting to block federal funds. The NGO Reporters Without Borders and the NewsGuild-CWA union have supported the complaints.