A US appeals court paused lower court rulings requiring President Donald Trump's administration to transfer congressionally authorized money to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federally funded news organizations.
The May 1 ruling by a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., plus a related decision by the same panel on May 3, means RFE/RL's budget remains in limbo, as well as its ability to continue publishing and broadcasting.
RFE/RL has been locked in a legal fight with the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) since March 14, when Trump signed an executive order calling for the reduction of USAGM to "the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."
The executive order not only affected USAGM but also Voice of America, RFE/RL, and other news organizations that receive congressional funding such as Radio Free Asia (RFA), the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and others.
Unlike Voice of America, which is a federal entity, RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN are private nonprofit organizations.
RFE/RL has sued USAGM to release frozen budget funds. On April 29, US District Judge Royce Lamberth granted RFE/RL a temporary restraining order, ruling it was Congress that "ordained that the monies at issue should be allocated to RFE/RL" and that Trump signed into law the budget resolution appropriating those funds.
The ruling ordered payment of some of the outstanding funds RFE/RL said it is due.
On May 1, however, the three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted to issue an "administrative stay," which paused Lamberth's decision.
The panel said it wanted to give "sufficient opportunity" to hear emergency motions from US Justice Department lawyers, which are representing USAGM in court.
The halt "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of those motions," said the panel, which included two judges appointed by Trump and a third who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
If it is appealed, then the decision on whether the administrative stay should remain in place will be heard by a fuller panel of the D.C. appeals court.
VOA and other federally funded broadcasters have been drastically affected by the Trump administration executive order and have filed parallel lawsuits challenging the order.
VOA has been forced to put nearly all its staff on paid leave and ended publications and broadcasts for the first time since it was launched in 1942.
RFA said nearly all of its staff, including those who have been furloughed, would be laid off as May 9. This means that by the end of May, half of RFA's language services will no longer produce or publish new content, it said.
RFE/RL has continued to broadcast and publish. However, it furloughed dozens of staffers, canceled many freelance contracts, and taken other measures to stretch dwindling budget funds.
The situation surrounding VOA is even more confusing. Lamberth, the same judge overseeing RFE/RL's case, on April 22 ordered the Trump administration to "take all necessary steps" to restore VOA employees.
On May 2, USAGM reportedly sent an e-mail to hundreds of employees instructing them to prepare to return to work in the coming days.
A day later, however, on May 3, a three-judge appeals panel -- the same panel that heard RFE/RL's case -- paused Lambeth's ruling, suggesting he did not have jurisdiction to order the VOA employees to return to work.
While the May 3 ruling did not directly affect RFE/RL, it could have legal implications for the broadcaster as its lawsuit proceeds.
Kari Lake, the Trump appointee who has overseen the efforts to shutter USAGM, hailed the appeals court ruling in a post to X: "Turns out the District Court judge will not be able to manage the agency as he seemed to want to."
RFE/RL continues to seek an injunction for the rest of the money it says it is due from congressional appropriations for the remainder of the 2025 budget year.
