A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with sweeping layoffs at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and some of its broadcast outlets, including Voice of America (VOA).
In a 19-page ruling issued on Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said USAGM could not implement a reduction-in-force (RIF) that would lead to more than 530 full-time job losses at VOA and other broadcasters. He also took issue with USAGM’s self-appointed acting CEO Kari Lake, saying she violated the spirit of an earlier court order that was intended to prevent the very RIF notices that she endorsed weeks later.
Lamberth said the RIFs violated USAGM’s Congressionally-mandated obligation to provide news and information programming to the world through radio — which the judge has also interpreted to include television broadcasts and streaming — in corners of the world where fact-based information is hard to come by.
The new order keeps VOA’s workforce intact through October 14, when Lake must present a plan detailing how the agency will restore programming to levels mandated by law. Lamberth said allowing the job cuts to proceed would “cement” VOA’s failure to meet statutory obligations to serve as a reliable and authoritative source of news.
Lamberth took particular issue with the agency’s diminished output since March, when President Trump signed an executive order directing USAGM to reduce operations to a “minimum presence.” The following day, VOA stopped broadcasting for the first time in its 83-year history and placed nearly all of its staff on administrative leave.
Congress has appropriated $875 million to USAGM for fiscal year 2025, with $260 million earmarked specifically for VOA. Despite those funds, the judge said the agency acknowledged its “radio presence” was reduced to a single 30-minute program in Dari and Pashto, leaving statutory gaps in coverage for regions such as North Korea, China, Africa and South America.
During a September 9 deposition, Lake admitted she had not “given it a lot of thought” whether Africa qualifies as a significant region under the law. She also confirmed VOA produces no programming for South America. Lamberth said those admissions showed “brazen disinterest” in congressional directives.
Employees who sued to block the layoffs argued the cuts would undermine the court’s ability to enforce earlier injunctions ordering VOA to maintain legally required programming. Government lawyers countered that the plaintiffs were trying to improperly micromanage agency operations.
Lamberth sided with the workers, noting the government initiated the reduction in force only hours after a hearing where attorneys suggested the plan was still hypothetical. He accused the defendants of “thumbing their noses at Congress’s commands” and misleading the court.
“The defendants’ obfuscation of this Court’s request for information regarding whether their RIF plans comported with the preliminary injunction has wasted precious judicial time and resources and readily support contempt proceedings,” Lamberth wrote.
While he declined to pursue contempt charges without a formal request from the plaintiffs, Lamberth warned that the administration’s “egregious conduct” should not be mistaken for leniency.
The ruling preserves the status quo at USAGM and its networks, which include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Marti, until further proceedings later this month.
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Read more:
- Trump administration sued for union-busting at USAGM, Voice of America
- Judge questions Kari Lake’s efforts to dismantle Voice of America
- USAGM fires Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz
- USAGM finalizes firings at Voice of America
- Documents outline deal between Voice of America, One America News
- USAGM fires hundreds of Voice of America contractors
- Judge sides with Voice of American journalists in lawsuit over firings
