“Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were critically important weapons in the free world’s competition with Soviet totalitarianism—and without them the Soviet bloc might even have not disintegrated.”
This was the assessment of Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter and one of the most influential foreign policy strategists of the Cold War era.
Brzezinski’s description is notable not only because of who said it, but because of how he described the organization. He did not characterize Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as merely a U.S.-funded news organization but instead, referred to it as a “weapon” in a geopolitical struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.
More than three decades after the Cold War ended, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty remains in operation—and Congress is now considering a major increase in its funding.
As Americans continue to grapple with rising prices and persistent inflation, Washington DC’s attention has increasingly shifted toward foreign policy priorities rather than domestic economic concerns. When foreign spending does enter the public conversation, it is often through provisions buried deep within legislative text and only briefly summarized in committee reports, with limited public attention.
One recent example is the Ukraine Support Act, sponsored by Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY). The bill continues ongoing U.S. funding for Ukraine as the war with Russia enters its fourth year, and like most large foreign aid packages, it contains a wide range of provisions.
Among them is Section 108, which authorizes $250 million in funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for 2026 alone. The language describes this funding as necessary to bring the organization to its “full capacity” in combating “conspiracy theories” and “Russian disinformation.” To understand this framing, it helps to look at the organization’s origins.
When it was originally founded in the 1950s, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was created to broadcast alternative reporting into countries behind the Iron Curtain. It received its first significant funding from both the U.S. Congress and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and has since been described as one of the CIA’s largest successful covert action projects.
Among the organization’s initial goals was a focus on “destroying the Soviet government’s monopoly of information,” during the Cold War. This included early attempts to create a “crisis of confidence” in Soviet leadership.
Over time, that structure evolved, but the organization remained. Today, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty operates in more than twenty countries, with a reported weekly audience of 47.6 million, more than 1,700 staff members, and over 9 billion video views in 2023. Its operations now include Radio Farda in Iran, Radio Azadi in Afghanistan, and services in the Balkans—regions of significant U.S. foreign policy interest.
What was once a Cold War-era broadcasting organization has become a global, publicly funded media operation with a clear geopolitical focus. According to congressional funding records and budget summaries, RFE/RL has received roughly $140–$150 million annually since 2023. The 2026 authorization increases prior funding levels by over 60%, with the stated goal of combating what Washington describes as “disinformation.”
The organization itself is almost entirely publicly funded. In a March 2025 court declaration, RFE/RL president Stephen Capus stated that roughly 99% of the organization’s funding comes from congressional appropriations through the U.S. Agency for Global Media, while around 1% comes from private donations or other sources.
When funding was briefly disrupted in 2025, Capus called the interruption a “massive gift to America’s enemies,” pointing specifically to governments like Russia, China, Iran, and Belarus as among those who would “celebrate the demise” of the organization.
Supporters of RFE/RL note that the relatively small cost—especially compared to overall defense and foreign aid spending—is justified by its strategic value. With independent media remaining a key tool for challenging state-controlled narratives abroad, think tanks such as the Hudson Institute have described RFE/RL funding as a “pittance in terms of U.S. government spending,” with a particular focus on countries like Russia, China, and Iran.
As a whole, RFE/RL sees itself as more than just an independent news organization. In an FAQ section on its website the group notes that the organization is also working to serve U.S. foreign policy objectives and U.S. national security interests.
Still, this leaves unresolved the question about whether communication organizations abroad should be treated as a permanent feature on the domestic spending ledger.
At a time when the U.S. economy continues to face inflationary pressure and the stock market experiences significant volatility, the question remains what tangible benefit U.S. citizens receive from this use of tax dollars.
Whether Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is viewed as a valuable instrument of American influence or an outdated relic of the Cold War, Congress is now preparing to increase its funding substantially. The question for Congress and American taxpayers is whether this continued investment in a government-backed media operation truly serves U.S. interests—or whether such efforts are better left to private initiative and the free marketplace of ideas.
