Radio Free Asia Sues to Restore Cut-Off Funding

Radio Free Asia filed a lawsuit Thursday against the United States government to restore funding cut off by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, claiming that the organization did not have the authority to stop the money.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said Congress appropriated the funding to the news organization but did not give the agency the ability to withhold the money, reports Bloomberg Law.

The defunding, therefore, was made in violation of several constitutional provisions and federal law, the complaint states.

Radio Free Asia was among the outlets that were designated for elimination through an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The Open Technology Fund, which monitors censorship, was also targeted in the order.

Radio Free Asia reported that the law firms Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and Democracy Forward filed the lawsuit on its behalf.

RFA President and CEO Bay Fang issued a statement calling the termination of funds illegal, and said the network, working under the authority of Congress, "remains committed to providing a voice that counters the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian governments across Asia."

She added that the CCP is "happy to see the funding for RFA stopped, but I believe we can prevent such an illegal termination of funding."

The lawsuit names USAGM's interim CEO, Victor Morales; Kari Lake, the Trump administration's senior adviser to USAGM; Russell Vought, director of the US Office of Management and Budget; and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Radio Free Asia has suspended most of its Washington-based staff after the suspension of funding was announced on March 15. It is asking the court to temporarily halt the funding cuts and to allow it to continue receiving the $35 million in funding Congress has appropriated through Sept. 30.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth temporarily blocked efforts by the Trump administration to remove all federal funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund.

Wednesday, Lake said in a letter to RFE/RL Chief Executive Steve Capus that USAGM was rescinding her previous letter terminating their grant agreement, but said the rescission was without prejudice to USAGM's authority to terminate the grant at a later date if USAGM were to determine that such a termination was appropriate under the applicable law."