The Global Engagement Center (GEC), has received from a judge another extension of its vampiric, censorious life.
As Dan Frieth reports for ReclaimTheNet, the multi-million-dollar-per-year leech is part of the Executive Branch, and, after the GOP supposedly defunded in the last National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), President Trump in February issued an Executive Order to end the GEC (renamed Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference “R/FIMI” office). But:
“In a June 13 order, US District Judge Susan Illston declared that the planned elimination of the unit, part of a broader push by the administration to downsize the federal government, violates an earlier injunction.”
The GEC was officially shut down on December 23, 2024, after its congressional authorization expired and funding was stripped from the NDAA. The office, which had a budget of approximately $61 million and a staff of over 120, was accused by conservative critics of censoring American citizens under the guise of combating foreign disinformation.
As MRCTV noted in December, the GEC traces back to the politically-generated “Russian collusion” canard that many Democrats and some Republicans invented and tried to promote beginning that year with the proposal of a bill now known euphemistically as “Portman-Murphy Act.”
Related: State Department's GEC Closure: What It Means for Free Speech and Censorship
In its final days, the GEC was given new life, and more money, rebranded as the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) office, but this successor was also closed on April 16, 2025, by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio argued that the office, costing taxpayers over $50 million annually, was used to "silence and censor" Americans, which he deemed antithetical to free speech principles.
Rubio’s announcement followed reports that the GEC had funded third-party organizations, such as the Global Disinformation Index, which allegedly targeted conservative media outlets, labeling them as "unreliable" and impacting their advertising revenue.
Writes Freith:
“Judge Illston’s ruling came in response to growing concerns from federal employee unions over sweeping executive actions they argue circumvent congressional oversight. The case, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, challenges President Trump’s February Executive Order 14210, which called for widespread agency reorganizations and staff reductions across multiple departments, including State.
Illston previously issued a preliminary injunction on May 9 barring these cuts.
In Friday’s order, she directly addressed the State Department’s attempt to move forward with plans to shutter R-FIMI, stating, ‘actions to be taken pursuant to the State Department’s reorganization plans…are prohibited by the Court’s injunctive relief, as are all final separations scheduled in the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference program.’”
And she added insult to injury, completely disregarding the separation of powers, as if pretending she can force the Executive Branch to do what she commands.
“She added a pointed directive: ‘If the State Department has any question about whether planned actions fall within the scope of the Court’s injunction, the Court ORDERS the Department to first raise those questions with the Court before taking action.’”
The case likely will see Trump’s legal team appeal, perhaps to the Supreme Court.
Let’s hope the majority there bothers to read the Constitution before it, too, becomes censored.
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