WASHINGTON — A federal judge agreed Tuesday to block the Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America, the 83-year-old international news service created by Congress.
US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that the administration illegally required Voice of America to cease operations for the first time since its World War II-era inception.
Attorneys for Voice of America employees and contractors asked the judge to restore its ability to broadcast at the same level as before President Donald Trump moved to slash its funding. Judge Lamberth mostly agreed, ordering the administration to reinstate Voice of America and two of the independent broadcast networks operated by the US Agency for Global Media — Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks — at least until the lawsuits challenging the executive order are resolved.
The judge denied the request as it related to two other networks — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund — citing their current operational status.
The ruling follows a March 14 executive order signed by President Trump — Executive Order 14238: Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy — which aimed to significantly reduce the federal workforce and cut funding to agencies deemed nonessential. Plaintiffs argued the order was used as a pretext to eliminate USAGM operations in violation of the First Amendment and federal statutes that protect independent journalism.
In a March 26 court filing, attorneys for the plaintiffs said nearly all 1,300 Voice of America employees were placed on administrative leave, and roughly 500 contractors were informed their agreements would be terminated by the end of the month.
In granting a preliminary injunction, Judge Lamberth found the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the administration’s actions were unlawful. He cited violations of constitutional protections, the Administrative Procedure Act, the International Broadcasting Act and the Take Care Clause, which requires the executive branch to faithfully execute laws passed by Congress.
The judge ordered the government to take “all necessary steps” to return USAGM employees and contractors to their positions as of March 13, one day before the executive order took effect. He also directed the agency to restore fiscal year 2025 grants to Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks and to resume programming that fulfills the agency’s statutory obligation to provide “reliable and authoritative” news.
To ensure compliance, the court will require monthly status reports from the defendants, documenting their efforts to restore operations and detailing disbursements to the affected networks.
The lawsuit was filed by journalist Patsy Widakuswara and others, who alleged that the dismantling of the agency represented an effort to silence independent journalism and politicize US international broadcasting. The case has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over press freedom and the role of publicly funded media under the Trump administration.
While the preliminary injunction does not resolve the underlying legal challenge, it temporarily halts the administration’s efforts to shutter the agency and significantly strengthens the plaintiffs’ case moving forward.
