A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore $12 million that Congress appropriated for Radio Free Europe, a pro-democracy media outlet at risk of going dark for the first time in 75 years.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also tucked a lesson on the three branches of government inside Tuesday’s ruling, cautioning that the system of checks and balances established by the U.S. Constitution must remain intact if the nation is going to continue to thrive.

Lamberth granted the temporary restraining order for the U.S. Agency for Global Media to disburse money for April 2025 for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty pending the outcome of a lawsuit seeking to keep the station on the air. He said the Trump administration could not unilaterally revoke funding approved by Congress.

RFK: Parents must do own vaccine research

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advised parents of newborns to “do your own research” before vaccinating their infants during a televised interview in which he also suggested the measles shot was unsafe and repeatedly made false statements that cast doubt on the benefits of vaccination and the independence of the Food and Drug Administration.

Kennedy made the remarks to talk show host Dr. Phil in an interview that aired Monday on MeritTV. He said, as he has in the past, that “if you want to avoid spreading measles, the best thing you can do is take that vaccine.”

But Kennedy also made clear, as he has in the past, that he believes it is up to individuals to decide. In suggesting vaccines are unsafe, he contradicted decades of advice from public health experts, including leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I would say that we live in a democracy, and part of the responsibility of being a parent is to do your own research,” the health secretary said. “You research the baby stroller, you research the foods that they’re getting, and you need to research the medicines that they’re taking as well.”

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.

Emhoff, others taken off Holocaust council

President Donald Trump has dismissed many of former President Joe Biden’s nominees to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Emhoff, who is Jewish and who led the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism, criticized Trump’s action, saying, “Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized.”

Others dismissed alongside Emhoff include former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain and former domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, who was the principal author of and the impetus behind the first-ever comprehensive National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism in 2023.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Withheld federal funding under review

An independent federal watchdog has opened more than three dozen investigations into the Trump administration to determine if it has illegally withheld billions of dollars in congressionally approved funds, raising the odds of a high-stakes constitutional clash over the power of the government’s purse.

The acknowledgment by

the Government Accountability Office came on Tuesday, as House and Senate Democrats estimated for the first time that President Donald Trump might have blocked the delivery of at least $430 billion during his first 100 days in office. That imperiled money enacted for foreign aid, green energy, health and transportation-related programs, potentially in violation of the law.

Many Democrats and legal scholars contend that Trump’s budget maneuvers violate the Constitution, which vest the powers to tax and spend with Congress, not the executive branch.

On Tuesday, Gene L. Dodaro, the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, revealed at a congressional hearing that his office had opened “39 different investigations” into the administration.

Perdue confirmed as ambassador to China

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed former Sen. David Perdue as ambassador to China, just as the U.S. and China are locked in a tariff showdown that threatens to redefine diplomatic relations between the world’s two largest economies.

Perdue, a Republican who served one term as a U.S. senator from Georgia, was confirmed 67-29 with some Democratic support. At his confirmation hearing this month, the former business executive called the U.S. relationship with China the “most consequential diplomatic challenge of the 21st century.”

— From news services