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Home Front: Politix

Court orders Trump to restore funding to Voice of America

2025-04-23

[VANGUARDNGR] A judge on Tuesday ordered President Donald Trump's administration to restore funding to Voice of America and other US-funded media, saying its abrupt shutdown of the outlets broke the law.

The federal judge in Washington agreed to a request led by the outlets' employees for a preliminary injunction, a temporary order as a court examines the legal challenge in greater depth.

Trump, who has long jostled with the press and questioned the editorial rules that prohibit interference in government-funded media, on March 14 issued an executive order to eliminate the outlets.

The following day, Kari Lake, his firebrand supporter turned advisor, began issuing notices to terminate all funding, which was appropriated by Congress.

Lake and other Trump officials are ''likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws,'' wrote Royce Lamberth, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The US Agency for Global Media, which supervises taxpayer-funded media, is allowed by law to redirect funds among its different programming by five percent or less, he wrote.

''Certainly, no law gives the agency the power to cut funding to the drastic degree that is alleged,'' he wrote.

Lamberth wrote that Voice of America's congressionally established charter states that the outlet will '''serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news (that is) accurate, objective, and comprehensive' but the defendants have silenced VOA for the first time.''

Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA, said the media rights group was ''very pleased'' with the decision on VOA and other outlets.

''Every day they're off the air is a gift to authoritarian regimes that forbid the free press, like China and Iran,'' he said.

The judge called on the Trump administration to return all employees and contractors to their jobs and to provide monthly status reports on compliance.

Posted by:Fred

#6 Bannon on DC Draino:

"Enough is enough - it’s time for President Trump to consider suspending the writ of Habeas Corpus to deport the millions of illegal aliens who invaded our country

It’s in the Constitution - Article 1, Section 9

It’s allowed when there is an invasion

FDR used it
Lincoln used it
Ulysses S. Grant used it

And all their faces ended up on our national currency

I hope Trump suspends habeas to repel this historic invasion - we’re more than ready to defend him and take our country back"

https://x.com/DC_Draino/status/1914699672448348388

Posted by: NoMoreBS 2025-04-23 13:17

#5 Fine. Use all the activist judge's pay to fund it.

Posted by: DarthVader 2025-04-23 09:29

#4
Suggestion.
All Court Challenges to the President must be filed with and heard only by the SCOTUS.

Thus reducing the Politically Bias low level Federal/State/City Judges, that we are seeing more and more of abusing the court system.

It would surely reduce the LawFare BS.

Posted by: NN2N1 2025-04-23 09:11

#3 Every day they're off the air is a gift to authoritarian regimes

"Authoritarian" must be the Word of the Week. I keep hearing it everywhere. Like Jamie Raskin threatening foreign countries that do not oppose Trump and thereby "facilitate authoritarianism" in the US. What does that even mean?

Question from the peanut gallery:
Is it authoritarianism when the people are forced to obey the government?

Posted by: SteveS 2025-04-23 08:34

#2 “numerous federal laws.” There’s a law for everything.

Posted by: Super Hose 2025-04-23 05:45

#1 Hacks in black. I include Roberts in that group. How about FOAD?

Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2025-04-23 03:57

00:00