Radio Free Asia, which transmits uncensored news to millions of people living under authoritarian regimes in Asia, filed a lawsuit on Thursday to restore congressionally-mandated funding that was abruptly frozen earlier this month. The lawsuit asserts that denying funding for RFA, which comes through grants administered by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, violated federal laws, including the U.S. Constitution, because only Congress has exclusive power over federal spending.
RFA was established by congressional statue. It has enjoyed bipartisan support since its founding in 1996 in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing.
It sends news in nine languages to countries and regions across Asia that have little or no press freedom, such as North Korea, China, Myanmar and Vietnam, providing independent news and information to millions of people every week by radio, television and online means.
