Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Release Funds Withheld from Radio Free Europe

Federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on Tuesday ordered the U.S. president's administration Donald Trump the disbursement of funds approved by Congress that had been withheldwithheld from the news organization Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is a federally funded outlet that provides independent reporting and news in those countries with limited freedom of speech and press freedom. Lamberth ordered the U.S. government to pay the organization $12 million corresponding to its April funding.

In his decision, the judge appeared to close the legal loophole that existed in his previous ruling, in which he allowed the Republican Administration to de facto withhold all fundingfor the media outlet while it duly complied with the court's mandate. "In this case it was Congress who ordained that the monies at issue" go to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty through a law signed by President Trump himself, the judge detailed. "In short: The current Congress and President Trump enacted a law allocating funds to the plaintiffs," he concluded.

Defense to the impartiality of the federal judiciary

Lamberth, who was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reaganduring his second presidency, also offered an unusual defense of the federal judiciary and its nonpartisan nature, taking into account that Trump went so far as to call for the removal of federal judges on several occasions in recent months, and that various members of his administration have in several cases taken actions that many legal experts have deemed open disobedience to the courts.

"[In recent months]people from both inside and outside government have variously accused the courts — myself included — of fomenting a constitutional crisis, usurping the Article II powers of the presidency, undercutting the popular will or dictating how executive agencies can and should be run," the judge wrote.