A federal judge ruled on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, that Voice of America (VOA) workers who were previously fired or placed on leave must be allowed to return to work. The ruling also mandates the restoration of funding to VOA and other U.S. government-funded news outlets under its parent agency.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth effectively halts plans associated with the Trump administration that aimed to significantly alter the operations of VOA and the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA and several other international broadcasters.
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Some of these other broadcasters are pursuing separate legal actions.
In his order, Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, delivered a sharp rebuke of the actions taken against the agency, stating it was “hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here.”
He noted that the administration acted “without regard to the harm inflicted on employees, contractors, journalists, and media consumers around the world.”
Lamberth highlighted the impact of these actions, pointing out that VOA, an outlet with an 80-year history, had effectively stopped reporting news.
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He observed that the VOA website had not been updated since March 15th and that “radio stations abroad that rely on VOA’s programming have either gone dark or air only music.”
The judge ordered the administration to restore VOA programming alongside reinstating staff and funding.
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