A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to revive Voice of America’s operations and bring its workforce back, after the government-funded broadcaster was largely taken off the air a year ago, leaving hundreds of employees laid off or sidelined on administrative leave.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth instructed the U.S. Agency for Global Media to produce, within one week, a plan to fully restore VOA’s broadcasts.
The outlet has been running with only minimal staffing after President Donald Trump moved to shut it down through an executive order last year.
Lamberth had already ruled that Kari Lake, Trump’s pick to lead the agency, lacked the legal authority to carry out the sweeping changes at VOA. In Tuesday’s decision, he examined those actions more closely, noting they effectively removed 1,042 of the organization’s 1,147 employees from their roles.
“Defendants have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth wrote.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, did not respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.
Lake had earlier criticized a March 7 ruling by Lamberth and said it would be challenged on appeal. In the meantime, Trump has nominated State Department official Sarah Rogers to head the agency, a role that requires Senate confirmation.
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA’s White House bureau chief and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said the decision marks an important step toward rebuilding the organization.
“We are eager to begin repairing the damage done to our agency and colleagues, return to our congressional mandate, and rebuild trust with our global audience,” she said.
She cautioned that restoring both operations and credibility would take time, expressing hope that public support would continue as VOA works to reestablish its role as an independent news provider.
VOA Director Michael Abramowitz, who was also placed on leave along with much of the staff, welcomed the ruling.
“We are thrilled with Judge Lamberth’s ruling and look forward to getting back to work,” Abramowitz said in a text message. “Voice of America has never been more needed. I am grateful for the resilience and dedication of VOA’s amazing workforce.”
Abramowitz had filed suit against the Trump administration last year in an effort to safeguard the organization’s editorial independence, a case that ultimately led to Tuesday’s decision.
Established during World War II, Voice of America has long delivered news coverage to audiences around the globe, particularly in regions where independent media is limited or absent. Before the shutdown, VOA broadcast in around 50 languages and reached an estimated 362 million people worldwide.
Iftikhar Ali is a veteran Pakistani journalist, former president of UN Correspondents Association, and a recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award
