A federal court in Washington has thrown the brakes on the Trump administration’s plan to cut loose more than 500 employees from Voice of America’s parent agency, warning officials that their conduct showed a troubling disregard for judicial authority.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, had failed to honor an earlier injunction requiring the broadcaster to uphold its mandate as a “reliable and authoritative” source of news. He accused the agency and its acting CEO, Kari Lake, of stalling for time while continuing to violate even the most basic obligations of the law.
The proposed layoffs—set to wipe out 532 full-time positions—would have gutted most of the agency’s workforce. VOA’s broadcasts were already suspended in March under a Trump executive order, sparking multiple lawsuits now pending before the court.
In his latest ruling, Judge Lamberth made it clear: the administration’s maneuvers were not simply bureaucratic missteps but willful noncompliance. “I no longer harbor any doubt,” he wrote, that the defendants lack any plan to obey the court’s directive.
The White House, the agency, and the employees’ legal team all remained silent following the decision.
VOA, founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, reported an audience reach of 360 million weekly in 2024. Trump, long at odds with the outlet, tapped Lake—a loyal ally and former television anchor—to run the organization during his second term, deepening tensions with critics who see the move as an attack on press independence.
Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, is overseeing a series of cases challenging Trump’s March order, including one brought by VOA’s director, Michael Abramowitz.
