(TibetanReview.net, Apr24’25) – After a temporary block on his March order by a New York judge, a federal district judge in Washington, DC, has on Apr 23 ordered the Trump administration to restore all jobs and funding for the Voice of America (VOA) and other US-backed news outlets (including Radio Free Asia-RFA), ruling that efforts to dismantle it violated the law and Constitution, reported bbc.com Apr 23. The decision is seen likely to be appealed.
Judge Royce Lamberth has found that the administration likely violated the International Broadcasting Act and Congress’ power to appropriate funding. He has also said the administration acted “without regard to the harm inflicted on employees, contractors, journalists, and media consumers around the world”.
The report noted that over 1,300 VOA employees, including about 1,000 journalists, were placed on leave following President Donald Trump’s order. The White House has accused the broadcaster of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”.
The judge has ordered the administration to take steps to restore employees and contractors to the jobs they had prior to the executive order, and to do the same for RFA and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
But this is not seen likely to happen any time soon, if at all.
“My colleagues and I are grateful for this ruling. But we know that this is just a small step forward, as the government is likely to appeal,” Patsy Widakuswara, the VOA White House bureau chief and a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, has said.
“We are committed to continuing to fight against what we believe is the administration’s unlawful silencing of VOA until we can return to our congressional mandate: to tell America’s stories with factual, balanced, and comprehensive, reporting,” she has said.
In March, Trump ordered the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA and funds outlets like Radio Free Europe and RFA, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”.
Now, Judge Lamberth has ruled that the Trump administration lacked the authority to shutter VOA, which is funded by Congress and has a legislative mandate to deliver credible news globally.
“It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here,” he has said in his scathing ruling.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers has attacked the judge’s ruling in a statement, saying, “Even though several courts have ruled that the President can remove personnel and terminate grants, a radical district judge is once again attempting to interfere with the Trump Administration’s efforts to make the government more efficient.”