Judge orders Trump admin to restore 1,000 Voice of America jobs and resume broadcasts

Federal Judge Rules VOA Workforce Suspension Illegal

District Judge Royce Lamberth has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate 1,042 Voice of America (VOA) employees by March 23 and resume international broadcasts, ruling that the mass suspension of staff ordered by US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) head Kari Lake was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated statutory mandates governing the broadcaster’s operations.

Two Distinct Rulings on Appointment and Authority

Tuesday’s ruling marks the second judicial decision against the administration’s restructuring of the agency within ten days. In a prior ruling issued March 14, Judge Lamberth—an appointee of President Ronald Reagan—found that Lake had been “unlawfully appointed” to lead USAGM because she lacked Senate confirmation. That ruling invalidated the personnel actions she subsequently ordered.

In the March 25 ruling on the workforce suspension itself, Judge Lamberth separately determined that Lake had no legal authority to suspend USAGM employees. The judge noted that the administration failed to account for legislation specifying which languages and regions VOA must serve, writing that “Defendants have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision.”

Workforce Actions: From Appointment to Administrative Leave

Following President Trump’s return to office in January 2025, Lake—a former television anchor—was appointed to oversee USAGM, the parent agency of VOA, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia. According to BBC reporting, Trump issued an executive order specifically directing the closure of VOA, which officials accused of left-wing bias. France 24 reported that Trump ordered affiliated outlets eliminated “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” while criticizing the editorial firewall preventing government intervention in coverage.

Lake proceeded to reduce agency staffing by over 85 percent, affecting more than 1,000 VOA personnel. Rather than permanent termination, the employees were placed on paid administrative leave beginning in February 2025. The judge’s order requires their return to active status by March 23, ending a suspension that has lasted weeks rather than the year cited in initial agency reports.

Administrative Perspective on Restructuring

The administration maintains that Lake acted within executive authority to restructure an agency characterized by officials as exhibiting systemic political bias. Supporters of the workforce reduction argue that VOA’s editorial firewall had permitted content that diverged from administration foreign policy objectives, necessitating personnel changes to align the agency with current policy directives.

The Trump administration has announced plans to appeal the earlier ruling regarding the lawfulness of Lake’s appointment. Legal arguments in that appeal are expected to address whether an acting agency head possesses authority to implement workforce reductions pending Senate confirmation hearings.

Remediation Deadlines and Operational Resumption

Judge Lamberth’s order establishes a dual deadline for compliance: the 1,042 affected employees must be reinstated to their positions by March 23, and USAGM must submit a written plan by next week detailing the resumption of international broadcasts. The mandates follow findings that the suspended workforce prevented VOA from fulfilling congressional mandates to broadcast to specific linguistic populations and geographic regions.

Employee Response

Three VOA journalists who filed suit against the administration welcomed the reinstatement order. In a joint statement, they expressed eagerness “to begin repairing the damage Kari Lake has inflicted on our agency and our colleagues, to return to our congressional mandate, and to rebuild the trust of the global audience we have been unable to serve” since the workforce suspension began.

Plaintiff Patsy Widakuswara told the Associated Press that journalists hoped “the American people will continue to support our mission to produce journalism, not propaganda.”

Historical Context

VOA was established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda and operates under statutory requirements mandating service to specific language groups worldwide. The recent suspension represents the most significant operational disruption to the broadcaster since its 1942 founding.