A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Donald Trump administration should recall more than 1,000 Voice of America employees who have been out of action for the past year. The ruling comes as the conflict between the government and independent bodies such as Voice of America continues, especially after President Trump began the process of dissolving Voice of America and the U.S. Agency for Global Media nearly one year ago.
The Voice of America website went dark on March 15, 2025, as a gap in the agency’s news reporting became evident over the past year. Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that the head of Voice of America, Kari Lake, appointed by President Trump, along with other officials, “are unlawfully withholding mandatory agency action,” and the court ordered the recall of 1,042 employees on administrative leave to resume operations immediately.
— Harish Chandra (@HarishChan20246) March 18, 2026
Royce C. Lamberth dismissed all the actions that Kari Lake had taken to implement the order given by President Trump, which sought to reduce the size of the USAGM to the “minimum presence and function required by law.”
The decision comes just 10 days after the judge ruled that Lake had improperly run the USAGM for several months last year, as well as her decision to lay off employees in large numbers. However, Lake responded, indicating that she would appeal the ruling, but she did not comment on the latest decision, as reported by CNN.
Steve Herman, head of the Journalism Center at the University of Mississippi, commented on the decision, stating that it was the final blow for supporters of the USAGM “deputy CEO” Kari Lake and those in the Trump administration who sought to dismantle VOA. However, he also indicated that complying with the court’s decision would set off a battle over the editorial firewall that sought to protect VOA from politics.
The Tuesday rulings follow lawsuits filed by the Voice of America director and three USAGM staff members who have been sidelined over the past year. Patsy Widakuswara, Jessica Jerreat, and Kate Neeper issued a joint statement saying they are ready to mend the rift they claim was created by Kari Lake within the agency and its staff.
In the message, the Voice of America director and the USAGM staff members said, “We’re eager to start repairing the damage Kari Lake has caused to our agency and to our colleagues, to get back to our congressional mission, and to rebuild the trust of the global audience we’ve been unable to serve for the past year.”
— Harish Chandra (@HarishChan20246) February 24, 2026
They also recognized the difficulty of the road ahead, saying, “We know restoring VOA’s operations and reputation will be long and hard. We hope the American people will keep supporting our aim to produce journalism, not propaganda.”
Last year, in April, Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction ordering the reinstatement of all employees and contractors of Voice of America. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals removed those obligations while retaining the requirement to carry out ongoing VOA operations.
The recent decision drew praise from Norman Eisen, a lawyer representing the challenge with the Democracy Defenders Fund. “It is a vast repudiation of the illegal actions taken to attempt to dismantle Voice of America and USAGM,” Eisen said. “While previous decisions had mitigated some of the most damaging of the administration’s illegal actions, this one really offers the opportunity for a substantial renewal of operations.”
