Key Points
- A federal judge ruled Kari Lake was unlawfully appointed acting CEO of Voice of America, saying the move violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
- The decision could reinstate more than 1,000 VOA employees laid off in 2025 and revive operations at the government-funded broadcaster.
- Lake said she plans to appeal the ruling, while employees who sued the administration called the decision a vindication.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. says the Voice of America’s acting CEO Kari Lake was wrongfully appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the agency, because her promotion at the external government-backed broadcaster was done so without Congressional oversight or approvals.
In a ruling issued March 7, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said the appointment violated federal law and rejected actions taken by Lake after she assumed authority over the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent entity of Voice of America (VOA).
The decision effectively restores the jobs of journalists and support staff who were dismissed in March 2025, a move that had largely halted operations at the broadcaster. Lake said she plans to appeal the ruling.
VOA produces radio, television and digital news programming in 49 languages and distributes it through affiliate stations and digital platforms around the world. The service has historically focused on providing news coverage to countries where press freedom is limited, including China, Russia and Iran.
VOA is funded through Congressional appropriations. The layoffs ordered last year eliminated more than 1,000 positions and drew sharp criticism from press freedom advocates, former employees and lawmakers who argued the move effectively dismantled one of the United States’ primary international broadcasting outlets.
Lamberth’s ruling centered on the legality of Lake’s appointment under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which governs how temporary leadership roles at federal agencies can be filled. The law requires that an acting head must either be the agency’s second-ranking official, a person confirmed by the U.S. Senate or a senior official who served at the agency before the vacancy occurred.
The judge determined that Lake did not meet any of those conditions, writing that the appointment amounted to “violence to the statutory and constitutional scheme.”
Lake had argued that she had not formally assumed the title of acting chief executive of Voice of America and instead exercised authority that had been delegated to her by the administration. Lamberth rejected that argument, saying allowing such delegations would enable the president to sidestep the legal limits imposed by Congress.
“Allowing the president to circumvent Congress’s carefully crafted limitations” through delegations of authority would violate the intent of the Constitution, Lamberth wrote in his decision.
If upheld on appeal, the ruling would reinstate employees who lost their jobs and potentially restore the broadcaster’s operations.
Lake criticized the decision in a statement, calling Lamberth “an activist judge” who had been “trying to stand in the way” of Trump’s efforts to “cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste and restore accountability to government.”
Employees of Voice of America and the U.S. Agency for Global Media who brought the lawsuit against the administration welcomed the ruling.
“We feel vindicated and deeply grateful,” the employees said in a joint statement, adding that they would continue to push for “restoring VOA’s global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda.”
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- Kari Lake disparages news outlets covering USAGM layoffs
- Trump administration sued for union-busting at USAGM, Voice of America
- Judge blocks some layoffs at 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
- Congress to continue funding Voice of America, despite Trump’s wishes
