A federal judge has ordered the parent agency of the Voice of America (VOA) to return the network’s 1,042 full-time employees, who had been put on leave, back to work by Monday. The ruling came after the judge found that Trump administration official Kari Lake’s efforts to dismantle the news outlet were “arbitrary and capricious.”
U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled last month that Lake had unlawfully assumed nearly all powers of the chief executive of the network’s federal parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). As a result, her actions since joining as a senior adviser to the agency were deemed invalid. Since then, Lake has taken on various senior titles within the agency. For several months, she called herself the acting CEO—a position she does not appear to be legally eligible for, as first reported by NPR in August. Most recently, she has served as the deputy CEO.
In his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Lamberth further declared that Lake had violated the law on additional grounds. He noted that she failed to consider Congress’s intentions when allocating funds to the agency and the network, nor did she consider the consequences of effectively shutting down VOA.
“We are thrilled with Judge Lamberth’s ruling and look forward to getting back to work,” Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz said following the decision. “Voice of America has never been more needed.”
Under Lake’s leadership, the agency attempted to reassign Abramowitz to a small short-wave radio facility in North Carolina and then sought to fire him for refusing the reassignment. Abramowitz is among those whose positions will be restored, assuming Judge Lamberth’s ruling stands.
Neither Lake nor an agency spokesperson immediately responded to NPR’s request for comment. In previous statements, Lake has vowed to appeal Lamberth’s rulings, accusing the judge of being an activist legislating from the bench.
### The Legacy of Voice of America
The Voice of America was established at the outset of World War II to counter Nazi propaganda in occupied regions. The network reported on both Allied defeats and victories, earning credibility with its audience. As the Cold War emerged, VOA served as a model for journalism in a pluralistic democracy, incorporating unwelcome news and dissenting viewpoints.
Before Lake’s overhaul, VOA reached 361 million people weekly across 49 language services in more than 100 countries, according to court filings. That number has since declined dramatically, with the agency citing only six language services remaining earlier this year.
### Kari Lake’s Tenure at the U.S. Agency for Global Media
Lake joined the White House with a background as a local TV news anchor and as a two-time unsuccessful candidate for statewide office in Arizona. She is known as a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump.
During her time at USAGM, Lake appeared intent on keeping VOA operational but aimed to reshape it with a more Trumpian perspective. Last year, she canceled contracts with Reuters and the Associated Press news services, striking a deal with the far-right One America News Network (OANN) to carry its reports for free.
This year, she praised Trump in an hour-long retrospective of his first year back in the White House.
### Legal Justifications and Controversies
In both public statements and court documents, Lake and U.S. Justice Department attorneys representing USAGM have justified their actions by repeatedly citing Trump’s executive order dated March 14, 2025. The order called for reducing the agency and others to “the minimum presence and function required by law.” A related news release was headed “The Voice of Radical America.”
Trump and Lake have accused VOA’s coverage of being anti-American, which motivated their desire to dismantle the network.
Lake pointed to a three-page agency memo as guidance for implementing the executive order. However, Judge Lamberth criticized this document for lacking any substantive findings, analysis, or consideration of relevant factors. In his words:
> “[T]he defendants do not dispute that the document ‘contains no findings, analysis, or consideration of any relevant factors’ apart from an assertion, as inscrutable as it is conclusory, that ‘[t]he Voice of America functional requirement and scope is duplicative with the activities of [United States] private broadcasters.’”
He added that the defendants’ actions have kept USAGM employees on administrative leave despite Congress’s repeated appropriations indicating a clear intent to maintain substantial broadcast operations.
Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers appropriated $643 million for the agency, specifying allocations for Voice of America and other international networks funded by USAGM. Lake, however, requested only $153 million—an amount sufficient only to wind down the network and the agency.
—
The coming days will reveal how this ruling impacts the future of Voice of America and the broader U.S. Agency for Global Media amid ongoing political and legal battles.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/17/nx-s1-5751162/voice-of-america-lawsuit-kari-lake