Kooky election denier KARI LAKE, who once spoke in front of a Confederate flag, was involved in the alleged illegal actions at issue in this article, was a speaker to local Republicans September 9, 2023. President DONALD JOHN TRUMP named her to attempt to shut down the VOICE OF AMERICA. More here: https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2024/12/trump-chooses-kari-lake-to-lead-voice.html From The New York Times:
Judge Orders Trump Officials to Restore Funding for Radio Free Europe
In a stern ruling, the judge rebuked the Trump administration for refusing to disburse funding that Congress had already approved.
Reporting from Washington
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a federally funded newsroom that provides independent reporting in countries with limited press freedom, such as Russia, Iran and Afghanistan.
The judge, Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, berated the Trump administration in his ruling, calling its legal arguments “nonsensical” and its decision to withhold funds “unprecedented.”
The news organization, also known as RFE/RL, is a private nonprofit that has independence over its editorial decisions and hiring practices but receives nearly all of its funding from Congress. Since March, the administration has refused to enter into a new funding contract with RFE/RL after the previous agreement expired, effectively denying funding to the news group.
Before denying the funds, President Trump signed a budget bill in March that provided funding to the news group until Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
udge Lamberth found that the Trump administration lacked legal authority to refuse funding that Congress approved without providing a clear basis for such a drastic measure.
“Congress has appropriated funds for RFE/RL every year since the enactment of the International Broadcasting Act of 1987,” the judge wrote in his ruling. He added that the Trump administration “has fallen short of its duty to articulate a satisfactory explanation” because “it has offered no explanation at all.”
Benjamin Herman, the general counsel of the news group, said in a statement that he was “gratified that Judge Lamberth has stopped” the administration’s “illegal actions.”
He added, “It is Congress, not the executive branch, that has the power of the purse.”
The judge’s ruling is a setback for Mr. Trump, who has targeted federally funded news organizations that he sees as prejudiced against him and conservative viewpoints.
The president has moved to close Voice of America, which provides news across the world in 49 languages. The Trump administration, accusing Voice of America of spreading partisan propaganda, fired nearly all of its journalists and shut down its operations. On Friday, at Mr. Trump’s urging, Congress passed a bill that clawed back $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the company that funds NPR and PBS, two national stations that Republicans have accused of liberal bias.
In his ruling, Judge Lamberth cited the rescissions bill that Congress passed, noting that the administration already understood “the proper procedure” for canceling funds that Congress had already approved. He criticized the administration for not having followed similar steps for RFE/RL’s case.
In April, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees RFE/RL, refused to enter into a contract that it had already sent to the news organization for a final review and laid out a new agreement that Judge Lamberth found unreasonable. Those provisions would have allowed the Trump administration to shut down parts of RFE/RL’s operation in 24 hours and determine the membership of the news group’s board, an authority that Congress repealed in 2022.
The judge was particularly troubled by the media agency’s lack of responses to RFE/RL’s attempts at negotiating a new agreement. He described the inaction as “stonewalling” and “continued silence” and said the media agency went “dark” for days or even weeks, failing to meaningfully respond to the news group’s emails.
The administration’s disengagement “makes a mockery of” the laws that govern federal agency actions, the judge wrote.
Kari Lake, the senior adviser at the U.S. Agency for Global Media who is leading the effort to shutter federally funded newsrooms, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Minho Kim covers breaking news and climate change for The Times. He is based in Washington.
4 comments:
They do detrimental things, then when a judge has to step in, they can validate their own "legislating from the bench" claims. What about "legislating from the executive?" You never hear them complain about that. So you see it's all about them feeling entitled to have their way no matter what anyone else says. The victimhood and all the whipping up anger happens when the authoritarians don't get their way all the time.
Derelict SCOTUS, Lazy Brett, Amy phoney Barrett, they aren't supposed to be polical but they can always abdicate their duties to people who are, who will in turn not do something because those court members want things to get that way. They play hot potato with their responsibility to uphold people's Constitutional rights!!!!
Congress passed the Bunkers for Derelicts Act to beef up SCOTUS security, but no "new remedies" for Constitutional rights violations perpetuated by the executive branch. Folks, this is the most degenerate and nonsensical government we've had in this country.
Just like Komando isn't supposed to be political, but he is, right Charlie? Check his household campaign contributions.
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