Key Points
- A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration cannot remove Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz without approval from an independent oversight board.
- Separately, VOA employees and labor organizations accused the administration of failing to comply with court orders addressing the broadcaster’s shutdown.
- A new court declaration says VOA broadcasts in just eight languages and no more than a dozen countries, down from 49 languages and approximately 100 countries before March 2025.
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz without approval from an independent oversight board, rejecting an effort to remove the journalist as the administration continues dismantling the international broadcaster.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an earlier ruling that found the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Voice of America, lacked the authority to dismiss Abramowitz without a majority vote of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.
The decision is another legal setback for the administration’s efforts to reduce Voice of America’s operations following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump early last year.
Writing for the court, Judge Nina Pillard said the law establishing the independent board was constitutional and served as a safeguard against political interference in the broadcaster’s journalism.
The Justice Department had argued that Abramowitz should have pursued his dismissal through the Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal employment disputes. Government attorneys also challenged the constitutionality of the law governing his removal.
The appeals court rejected both arguments: Pillard wrote that Congress intended the law to provide protections for Voice of America’s editorial independence, rather than create an ordinary federal employment dispute. The court also found that the president retained indirect authority over the VOA director because he could remove members of the oversight board.
The ruling upholds an August 2025 decision by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who determined that USAGM could not fire Abramowitz without the board’s approval.
Abramowitz has remained on administrative leave while the litigation continues.
In a statement following Tuesday’s decision, Abramowitz said he was pleased with the outcome and wanted to resume his work at the broadcaster.
“There is no longer any reason for the government to prevent me from doing the job for which I was legally installed on a bipartisan basis more than two years ago,” Abramowitz said.
The ruling comes as the administration faces several lawsuits challenging the removal of employees and the suspension of Voice of America’s international broadcasting operations.
Separately, attorneys representing Abramowitz, VOA journalists and labor organizations filed a memorandum Monday accusing the administration of failing to comply with an earlier court order concerning the broadcaster’s shutdown, according to a copy of the court record obtained by The Desk.
The filing disputes the government’s argument that portions of the litigation should be dismissed because USAGM has abandoned an internal memorandum used to justify reducing the agency’s operations to what officials considered the minimum required by law.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the government had not demonstrated that the memorandum would be permanently abandoned or that its effects had been reversed.
They also argued that VOA’s operations remain substantially below their levels before the March 2025 shutdown.
In a declaration accompanying the filing, Abramowitz said Voice of America reached approximately 361 million people weekly across about 100 countries in 49 languages before the administration began reducing its operations. Today, the broadcaster operates in eight languages and reaches no more than a dozen countries, he said.
VOA no longer broadcasts to audiences in Latin America, where it previously reached approximately 100 million people weekly through hundreds of affiliates and media partners, the declaration notes. Operations in Africa have also been suspended — before the shutdown, VOA reached an estimated 93 million people weekly across the continent — and the VOA no longer broadcasts to Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia, countries where the broadcaster maintained a significant audience on radio and digital platforms.
The administration has argued that its revised broadcasting plan represents a change from the actions originally challenged in court. It has also pointed to the return of 168 employees from administrative leave. But the plaintiffs say those measures have not adequately addressed the effects of the shutdown or satisfied the broadcaster’s obligations under federal law.
The cases are among several involving USAGM and Kari Lake, whose authority to lead the agency during its restructuring has also been challenged in federal court.
More Stories
- Viewpoint: Lawsuit filed by Voice of America journalists to determine broadcaster’s fate
- VOA journalists seek restraining order against Trump administration
- U.S. Agency for Global Media sued over cancellation of grants
- Trump orders cuts at Voice of America parent agency
- Voice of America execs, journalists file second lawsuit against USAGM
- Steve Herman retires from Voice of America, joins University of Mississippi
