Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) filed a lawsuit against Kari Lake in her capacity as advisor to the acting CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) last week.
The two independent media organizations, contracted by the government, alleged that she wrongly halted their grant funding as part of the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts. Royce Charles Lamberth, a senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, heard oral arguments on Monday.
On March 15, Lake sent a letter to terminate the grant agreement for the two organizations because it “no longer effectuates agency priorities.” Since Lake came on board, over 1,000 employees were fired from USAGM, all the staff at its subsidiary Voice of America (VOA) were put on administrative leave, and numerous grant contracts were terminated. Lake was originally hired to lead VOA, but due to the delays getting Trump’s nominees through Senate confirmation hearings, including Brent Bozell who would lead USAGM, she has been appointed an advisor for now.
RFE/RL claimed in the lawsuit, which also named USAGM and its CEO Victor Morales, that USAGM is legally required to provide grants to them. However, USAGM said it was only “eliminat[ing] all non-statutorily required activities and functions.”
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