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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| US state-funded media puts employees on unpaid leave | US state-funded media puts employees on unpaid leave |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) says it has run out of funds because of Donald Trump’s executive order | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) says it has run out of funds because of Donald Trump’s executive order |
| The US state-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) began furloughing staff at its Prague headquarters on Tuesday, citing the lack of money for April. | |
| RFE/RL was originally created to spread pro-Western propaganda in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War and was funded by the CIA. It most recently depended on grants from the US Congress. | |
| On March 14, President Donald Trump signed an executive order drastically cutting funds for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees RFE/RL and Voice of America. | |
| On March 25, a Washington DC judge temporarily blocked the USAGM from defunding RFE/RL, however the outlet said on Tuesday that, despite the ruling, it has not received new money from the government. | |
| “Although USAGM rescinded its letter terminating RFE/RL’s grant agreement on March 26, RFE/RL has not received any of its congressionally appropriated funds since that date – and USAGM has not approved RFE/RL’s financial plan for April,” the news outlet wrote on its website. | “Although USAGM rescinded its letter terminating RFE/RL’s grant agreement on March 26, RFE/RL has not received any of its congressionally appropriated funds since that date – and USAGM has not approved RFE/RL’s financial plan for April,” the news outlet wrote on its website. |
| RFE/RL added that it has asked the judge to grant a temporary restraining order guaranteeing its funding in April and an injunction to ensure it will have the money “for the remainder of the current fiscal year.” | RFE/RL added that it has asked the judge to grant a temporary restraining order guaranteeing its funding in April and an injunction to ensure it will have the money “for the remainder of the current fiscal year.” |
| “Our staff and their families are now paying the price as RFE/RL continues to wait for USAGM to provide our congressionally appropriated funds,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement. | “Our staff and their families are now paying the price as RFE/RL continues to wait for USAGM to provide our congressionally appropriated funds,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement. |
| The White House has argued that the defunding of RFE/RL was part of Trump’s campaign to cut public spending and eliminate “unnecessary” bureaucracy. | The White House has argued that the defunding of RFE/RL was part of Trump’s campaign to cut public spending and eliminate “unnecessary” bureaucracy. |
| Tech billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called for RFE/RL to be “shut down.” “Nobody listens to them anymore,” Musk wrote on X in February. | Tech billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called for RFE/RL to be “shut down.” “Nobody listens to them anymore,” Musk wrote on X in February. |