The DC Circuit Court has overturned a stay and ordered the restoration of funding to Radio Free Asia. This decision comes after a lawsuit filed by the Guild, other unions, and journalists aimed at reinstating grantee funding and returning Voice of America journalists and media workers to their positions. The NewsGuild-CWA, representing approximately 100 journalists and media workers at Radio Free Asia through the Washington-Baltimore News Guild Local 32035, faced significant layoffs this month. These layoffs followed the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s cessation of payments to grantees due to an executive order from President Trump intended to close the Congressionally mandated agency.
NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss commented on the court’s decision: “This is a critical win for press freedom and for respecting the role of Congress in funding public media.”
Schleuss further emphasized the urgency of reinstating journalists: “Journalists and other workers at Radio Free Asia, Voice of America and other newsrooms must be brought back immediately. They cover countries where press freedom is under constant assault, but this funding crisis shows that threats to independent journalism can come from our own government, too. The court’s decision is a necessary check on executive overreach and a step toward restoring these vital newsrooms.”
