Three appellate court judges sided with federal Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island. The sweeping funding freeze will be blocked until the Trump administration’s full appeal is heard.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media cannot “force RFE/RL to shut down,” the judge wrote, “even if the President has told them to do so.”

A court order blocking US President Donald Trump's freeze on trillions of dollars in government financial assistance will remain in place for now, a federal appeals court said.