BURSTThe Trump administration says it has restored funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund after the groups sued.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) had cut off the funding as part of the administration’s broader effort to eliminate the agency, which also oversees Voice of America.
In a pair of new court filings, the Justice Department said the groups’ demands for injunctions are effectively moot now that the government has restored the funding.
“Plaintiff has secured the primary relief — the withdrawal of the termination of its grant agreement — that it requested in the complaint. Now that Plaintiff has received that relief, Defendants’ position is that this matter is now moot,” the Justice Department wrote Thursday in the Open Technology Fund case.
The filing landed just ahead of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s scheduled hearing Thursday morning on whether to immediately order the administration to restore the government’s financial support for the program. After taking the bench, the judge quickly adjourned the proceeding in the wake of the development.
The fund supports technologies that seek to advance global internet freedom and counter censorship and is one of multiple programs funded by USAGM, where failed Arizona Republican gubernatorial and Senate candidate Kari Lake now serves as special adviser.
Patrick Daugherty, an attorney representing the technology fund, said the group will drop their motion once the administration follows through on its commitments.
Justice Department attorney Abigail Stout told the judge the government “can’t give a guarantee of when it will hit the bank account” since the payment must go through Treasury Department processes but assured that the resumption was in motion.
The judge will hold a hearing Monday afternoon if the agreement falls through.
The shift in the case came as the Justice Department similarly indicated that USAGM had resumed funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which publishes content in 27 languages for 23 countries across Europe and Asia and also sued after its funding was frozen.
On Tuesday, Lamberth had sided with the radio station by issuing an order that the administration restore the funds. Lamberth is an appointee of former President Reagan.
The administration’s efforts to gut the Voice of America remains embroiled in two legal challenges that remain ongoing.