A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore Voice of America after the government-funded broadcaster was largely shut down over the past year, setting up a fresh legal clash over the future of one of the nation’s best-known international media outlets. The administration filed notice Thursday that it will appeal the ruling.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled this week that Kari Lake, who had been tapped by President Donald Trump to oversee the U.S. Agency for Global Media, did not have the legal authority to reduce VOA to a skeletal operation. In a sharply worded opinion, Lamberth ordered the government to return employees to work and begin restoring normal operations.
Before the shutdown, Voice of America broadcast in 49 languages and reached an estimated 362 million people worldwide. The outlet was created during World War II to deliver news into countries without a tradition of a free press, and it long served as a centerpiece of U.S. international broadcasting.
The court battle stems from the administration’s effort to dramatically scale back government-backed news operations, including VOA and sister outlets such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Supporters of the reductions argued the networks had become examples of bloated government and pushed for coverage more favorable to the administration. With its workforce gutted, VOA had continued only limited operations in places including Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea and Kurdish-language markets.
Lamberth had already ruled on March 7 that Lake lacked authority to exercise many of the powers she used while overseeing the agency. In his latest order, he said the administration had failed to provide a sound legal basis for dismantling VOA and directed the government to devise a plan to resume broadcasts and reinstate staff. Reports on the case said more than 1,000 employees had been sidelined during the shutdown.
The administration’s appeal leaves the immediate future of the broadcaster uncertain. Even with the court order in place, restoring Voice of America is expected to take more than simply recalling employees, as the agency faces the task of rebuilding staffing, infrastructure and morale after a year of disruption.