Constitutional illiterates are shocked by the ruling.
CONTINUING THE REDUCTION OF THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
On March 14 Trump issued an Executive Order on the CONTINUING THE REDUCTION OF THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. This order continues the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary.
Sec. 2. Reducing the Scope of the Federal Bureaucracy.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law: ….
No Authority
The problem is Trump has no clear authority to block programs funded by Congress.
The Desk reports Judge orders USAGM to restore Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty grants
The Executive Order required USAGM and six other federal agencies to wind down their activities and suspend non-essential federal employees, a move that led to layoffs affecting more than 1,000 journalists at media organizations directly under USAGM’s control, including the Voice of America (VOA).
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is an independent, non-profit broadcaster that provides news, information and entertainment to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. It is distinct from VOA and other USAGM-controlled broadcasters in that it operates separate from the U.S. government and its agencies. But it receives federal funding through acts of Congress, and that funding allows USAGM to have oversight of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and its operations.
Earlier this month, USAGM understood its oversight to include the ability to withhold federal grant money from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, which triggered an immediate legal challenge.
This week, attorneys representing Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty moved for a restraining order that prevents USAGM from further withholding federal grant money intended for its operations. On Monday, USAGM said it made a payment to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty totaling $7.4 million, which was intended to offset immediate damages caused to the broadcaster.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lambert ruled Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s motion for the $7.4 million disbursement was moot, given that USAGM had already committed to making the payment. Lambert otherwise approved the restraining order, which prevents USAGM from withholding further grant payments while the lawsuit proceeds.
“The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE / RL to shut down — even if the President has told them to do so,” Lambert wrote.
Reasonable Ruling
The ruling by Judge Royce Lambert is correct.
Jackasses act shocked. Since they are jackasses, they might even be shocked.
“WTF? HOW IS THIS REAL?” says Nick Sortor.
Here’s the deal. Congress funded the program. Unless and until the Supreme Court rules that the President can overrule Congress, judges are compelled, to follow Supreme Court precedent.
Jackasses either don’t understand that (or worse yet don’t give a damn) and act shocked.
Constantly throwing red meat to a pack of howling hyenas while acting shocked over nothing while trumping up favorable nothingness is how you get 1.9 million views.
Congrats, I guess.
A Retreat in the War of Ideas
The WSJ makes that case in A U.S. Retreat in the War of Ideas
On Saturday Mr. Trump ordered the termination of grants for Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Voice of America, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and Television Marti), the Open Technology Fund and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks are also being dismantled. This is a retreat in the global war of ideas.
The news agencies were created to counter communism and spread the truth in countries where media are controlled by governments that lie about the world. As Natan Sharansky and other former prisoners of communism attest, Radio Free Europe was a source of inspiration as it broadcast throughout countries like Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union. It’s the same in China, Cuba and other dictatorships today.
In February Elon Musk posted on X.com that the U.S. should shut down the networks because “Europe is free now (not counting stifling bureaucracy). Hello??” and “Nobody listens to them anymore.” He said the outlets are “just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money.”
Sometimes reality is more complicated than 280 characters. Radio Free Europe/Radio Farda runs Persian language outreach that is heard or seen by 10% of the Iranian population each week, some 6.5 million people, according to RFE. Those broadcasts include informing Iranians about Mr. Trump’s discussions with the Iranian regime.
The networks operate in countries where a free media is restricted. Radio Farda delivered news during the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and had two billion views across Instagram in 2024. They also bring sunshine in Russia and eastern Ukraine, where few reporters can operate.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) delivers news and content in Tibetan, Mandarin, Cantonese and to North Korea. Its reporters broke critical stories about Chinese ethnic cleansing of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang as well as early stories countering the Chinese coverup of the progress of the Covid epidemic.
RFA has some 38 million followers on social-media platforms. Following the implementation of Hong Kong’s draconian national-security law, RFA’s Cantonese Instagram account grew rapidly and now has some 150,000 followers. The Open Technology Fund helps locals circumvent internet firewalls—supporting VPNs and other ways for Chinese citizens to evade government censorship. China bans or restricts Western social-media platforms even as Chinese-owned TikTok operates freely in the U.S. and uses algorithms to mute criticism of China.
The networks of the Agency for Global Media provide original reporting in more than 100 countries in 63 languages, reaching 420 million people. Radio Free Asia has an annual budget of $60.8 million and reaches some 58 million people a week. The cost is inconsequential compared to the value of news that challenges the narratives of autocratic regimes.
The Real Issue
Please note that I am not saying we should fund these programs. The Wall Street Journal laid out the case.
Feel free to disagree. Many do. However, it is not relevant to the discussion at hand.
The only relevant thing is Congress funded the program and Trump is unilaterally and unconstitutionally blocking it.
If Trump can make the case to Congress, he can easily get funding stopped.
If Trump can win an appeal (color me very doubtful), then he can also get funding stopped.
Meanwhile, it is important to understand that barring a Supreme Court verdict to the contrary, Trump does not have authority to make the Executive Order that he did.
Related Posts
On March 14, I commented Why Did Trump Lose in Court on the Mass Firing of Government Workers?
The short answer is DOGE did not follow the law. The long answer is complex.
Alsup Wants an Appeal
“If you want to appeal this, God bless you. I want you to because I am tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth, giving me snippets. I want someone to go under oath and tell us what happened in these phone calls, and agencies claiming they did this on their own” .
So Stupid
This is all so stupid. Team DOGE did mass firings of people, including those with perfect reviews, on grounds of performance.
Alsup says that the government can reduce its force under the RIF Act, but has to follow the process. So why not follow the process?
Trump was supposed to give 30 days’ notice but did not bother. And he fired people with impeccable reviews on grounds of incompetence.
Should Congress Eliminate the US Department of Education?
On March 19, I asked Should Congress Eliminate the US Department of Education?
The answer to the question is yes, of course. Let’s discuss why.
Properly executed, I am 100 percent in favor of efforts to abolish the Department of Education. But good luck doing it by Executive Order.
March 20, 2025: Trump Signs Order to Eliminate the Education Department, Here Comes the Court
Expect another court battle that Trump will mostly, but not entirely, lose.
March 18, 2025: Supreme Court Justice Roberts Issues Warning to the Trump Cancel Culture
Republicans now act just like AOC and the Progressive cancel culture activists.
Birthright Citizenship
No president has ever challenged birthright citizenship by executive order.
Supposedly it’s “activism” to reject Trump’s ridiculous claim despite the fact that the circuit and appeals court have no choice other than follow the law of the land, as already ruled by the Supreme Court.
I have discussed this subject many times, most recently in Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order
The Appeals Court ruling was 95 percent likely, so this is no shocker. But let’s review the case.
Trump will lose.
Trump Cancel Cultural Activism – Ten Things
- Ending Birthright Citizenship by Executive Order
- Firing employees without required 30-day notice
- Firing employees for no reason despite that RIF requirement
- Openly defying court orders, triggering as statement from the Supreme Court
- Acting against law firms and lawyers for representing clients the TCC doesn’t like
- Ridiculous Litigation Cost mandate
- Funding new programs not authorized by Congress
- Blocking programs funded by Congress
- Cancelling pardons
- Rejecting Autopens used since Jefferson
That’s 10 extreme to obviously unconstitutional things that Trump has done.
Once again, I support DOGE provided it is done in accordance with the law. Otherwise I don’t.
With a majority in Congress, Trump can and should be able to win many things, but not everything.
Irony of the Day and Hoot of the Year
Team Trump and Constitutional illiterates moan about activist judges.
Actually, it’s the opposite. Team Trump demands activist judges who will wreck the Constitution to do whatever Trump wants.
That’s the hoot of the year.