Federal Judge Orders Voice of America to Restore 1,042 Employees, Nullifies Kari Lake’s Shutdown Actions as Unlawful
A federal judge, Royce C. Lamberth, ordered the U.S. Agency for Global Media to return 1,042 full‑time Voice of America employees to work by March 23 and nullified nearly all Trump‑era actions to shutter VOA, finding that Kari Lake’s moves were arbitrary and capricious and that she “repeatedly thumbed her nose” at statutory requirements. The opinion reverses personnel reassignments including director Michael Abramowitz’s demotion, blocks cuts such as canceling Reuters/AP contracts and slashing language services, notes contractors are excluded, stresses Congress required VOA to maintain operations in each significant region and a variety of voices (citing gaps in service to Iran), and Lake has criticized the ruling and said she will appeal.
📌 Key Facts
- Federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered the U.S. Agency for Global Media to return 1,042 full‑time Voice of America employees to work by March 23; the order excludes contractors.
- Lamberth’s ruling nullified nearly all actions by the Trump administration and Kari Lake aimed at shuttering VOA, finding Lake’s moves arbitrary and capricious and that she failed to consider Congress’s intent.
- The decision reverses specific changes Lake and the administration implemented or attempted, including canceling Reuters and AP contracts, cutting VOA’s language services from 49 to six, striking a content deal with One America News Network, and the reassignment/planned firing of VOA Director Michael Abramowitz (to a short‑wave facility in North Carolina).
- Before the ruling, the administration — invoking a 'bureaucracy reduction' executive order — put almost all VOA staff on paid administrative leave and reduced the agency to 'skeletal operations' while deciding what minimum operations the law required.
- Lamberth emphasized statutory requirements that VOA maintain news operations 'in each significant region of the world' and present 'a variety of opinions and voices,' saying the administration 'flagrantly disregarded' those rules and that staffing cuts left VOA unable to run its legally mandated service to Iran amid the ongoing Iran war.
- The ruling was framed as a direct rebuke to President Trump’s efforts to curtail VOA and a major setback for Kari Lake; Lake has called Lamberth an 'activist' and said she plans to appeal.
- Observers note the fight over VOA’s editorial independence may now shift inside the administration, given prior attempts by Trump officials to influence editorial decisions at federally funded news outlets.
📊 Relevant Data
The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Voice of America, had a workforce with 51.49% minority participation in FY2018, with Black and Asian Americans overrepresented compared to the U.S. population, while White and Hispanic Americans were underrepresented.
Faces and Voices of the United States Abroad: Diversity at U.S. Foreign Affairs Agencies — Congressional Research Service
VOA Persian generated 1.8 billion video views in FY 2024, representing a 40% increase from the previous year.
FY 2024 Agency Performance Report — U.S. Agency for Global Media
As of 2024, there were approximately 750,000 Iranian Americans in the U.S., comprising 0.2% of the population.
7 facts about Iranians in the U.S. — Pew Research Center
📰 Source Timeline (4)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Judge Lamberth’s new written opinion says Kari Lake 'repeatedly thumbed her nose' at legal requirements while attempting to dismantle Voice of America.
- Lamberth quotes Lake as saying she had 'no opinion' about which countries censor and repress their people or which regions of the world are 'significant,' despite statutory requirements that VOA leadership be able to make such judgments.
- The opinion highlights that under Trump’s 'bureaucracy reduction' executive order, the administration put almost all VOA staff on paid administrative leave and reduced the agency to 'skeletal operations' before determining what minimum operations the law still required.
- Lamberth cites the ongoing Iran war to stress that current staffing levels left VOA unable to operate its legally mandated service to Iran.
- The New York Times piece emphasizes that Judge Royce C. Lamberth 'nullified nearly all actions that the Trump administration took to shutter Voice of America,' not just specific personnel or contract moves.
- It underscores that more than 1,000 full‑time journalists and support staff must return by March 23 and that contractors are excluded from the order.
- The article frames the ruling as a direct rebuke to President Trump’s efforts to shutter VOA, noting he has labeled it the 'voice of radical America,' and as a major blow to Kari Lake as the de facto head of VOA’s oversight agency.
- Lamberth’s opinion is quoted stressing that Congress directed the administration to maintain VOA news operations 'in each significant region of the world' presenting 'a variety of opinions and voices,' and that the administration 'flagrantly disregarded' those rules.
- The story highlights that the fight over VOA’s independence may now shift inside the administration, given prior attempts by Trump officials to influence editorial decisions at federally funded news outlets.
- Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s order explicitly directs the U.S. Agency for Global Media to return 1,042 full-time VOA employees who had been put on leave back to work by Monday.
- Lamberth adds a fresh legal basis for invalidating Kari Lake’s actions, ruling that she failed to consider Congress’ intent in funding the agency and the implications of effectively shutting VOA down, rendering her moves 'arbitrary and capricious.'
- The article details Lake’s specific steps to reshape VOA’s journalism, including canceling Reuters and AP contracts, cutting VOA’s language services from 49 to six, and striking a content deal with One America News Network.
- Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz’s job reassignment to a small short-wave facility in North Carolina, and planned firing for refusing that reassignment, are described as among the actions now reversed by the ruling.
- Lake has publicly labeled Lamberth an 'activist' and says she plans to appeal, but neither she nor the agency immediately responded to NPR about this specific order.