Voice of America lawsuits involving Kari Lake now span three fronts: a set of 2025 cases challenging the shutdown of VOA and its parent U.S. Agency for Global Media, a successful challenge to Lake’s legal authority to run the agency, and a March 2026 suit alleging the administration has turned what remains of VOA into a pro-Trump propaganda outlet. A federal judge has voided Lake’s official actions and ordered broadcasts restored, but a federal appeals court has paused the reinstatement of more than 1,000 employees while the government appeals.
The Shutdown and the First Wave of Suits
On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14238, directing USAGM and six other agencies to reduce their functions to the “minimum required by law.”1Jurist. US Federal Judge Orders Voice of America Broadcasting Restored2Findlaw. Widakuswara v. Lake3VOA News. USAGM Announces Kari Lake as Special Adviser Funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and the Open Technology Fund was frozen.4Politico. Voice of America Donald Trump
The 1994 International Broadcasting Act requires VOA to produce reporting that is “consistently reliable and authoritative, accurate, objective, and comprehensive,” and creates a firewall barring the executive branch from interfering with editorial decisions.5USAGM. International Broadcasting Act6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 U.S.C. Chapter 71 — United States International Broadcasting Plaintiffs invoked those provisions almost immediately.
On March 21, 2025, VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, press freedom editor Jessica Jerreat, USAGM strategy director Kathryn Neeper, and other journalists sued in the Southern District of New York, joined by the American Federation of Government Employees, AFSCME, The NewsGuild-CWA, and the American Foreign Service Association.7AFGE. Journalists, Federal Workers, and Unions File Lawsuit to Challenge Closure of US Agency for Global Media The case was later transferred to the D.C. district court as Case No. 1:25-cv-01015 and assigned to Judge Royce C. Lamberth.8Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Widakuswara v. Lake
Five days later, VOA Director Michael Abramowitz filed a companion suit, Abramowitz v. Lake (Case No. 1:25-cv-00887), also before Judge Lamberth, arguing that the mass suspension and shutdown amounted to an effective repeal of legislation Congress had enacted.9CourtListener. Abramowitz v. Lake10Just Security. Voice of America Litigation
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund filed their own suits to recover frozen funds. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in the RFE/RL case on March 25, 2025, and USAGM released $7.5 million in overdue funds.11NPR. Trump Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Restraining Order After the administration later restored funding to both organizations, the Justice Department argued the injunction requests were moot.12Nieman Lab. Trump Administration Restores Funding for Radio Free Europe, Open Technology Fund After Lawsuits
Early Rulings Through 2025
Judge J. Paul Oetken granted a temporary restraining order on March 28, 2025, barring USAGM from interfering with editorial decisions, retaliating against journalists, or withholding grant funding on unconstitutional grounds.8Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Widakuswara v. Lake After transfer to D.C., Judge Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction on April 17, 2025, and on April 22 ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees, contractors, and programming. Lamberth called the refusal to spend congressionally appropriated funds “a direct affront to the power of the legislative branch.”4Politico. Voice of America Donald Trump
In May 2025, the D.C. Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, stayed the portion of that order requiring employee and contractor reinstatement, ruling the district court lacked jurisdiction on that point.13DW. US Appeals Court Blocks Ruling Returning VOA Staff to Work The same appeals court separately rejected the government’s attempt to remove Abramowitz as VOA director, calling the removal “plainly contrary to law” and noting that the oversight board required to approve it had been inquorate since January 2025.14Bloomberg Law. DC Circuit Rejects US Bid to Remove Voice of America Director
In August 2025, Lamberth ordered Lake and two aides, including Frank Wuco, to sit for sworn depositions by September 15, saying Lake was “verging on contempt of court” for failing to disclose her plans. The judge listed actions taken without notifying the court: cycling out senior executives, seeking to fire Abramowitz without the required advisory panel, and striking a deal to carry content from One America News Network.15NPR. Judge Orders Kari Lake Sworn Deposition
A parallel executive-order fight ran through the fall. AFGE and AFSCME sued to block an August 28, 2025, order stripping USAGM employees of collective bargaining rights, and won reinstatement of union contracts.16AFGE. Trump Administration’s Union-Busting at Voice of America USAGM Lamberth also suspended an agency-wide reduction in force announced August 29.17AFSCME. Coalition Wins Major Victory as Judge Rules Kari Lake’s USAGM Appointment Illegal In November, Lake notified Congress of plans to close six overseas news bureaus and four marketing offices in Jakarta, Islamabad, Nairobi, Prague, and other locations, even as the court order to maintain news operations remained in effect.18New York Times. Trump Voice of America Overseas Offices
Lake’s Appointment Ruled Illegal (March 7, 2026)
On March 7, 2026, Lamberth ruled that Lake’s service as acting CEO from July 31 through November 19, 2025, violated both the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Her official actions during that period “shall have no force or effect,” the court held. Lake was “plainly ineligible to serve,” the judge wrote, because she had not held an office subject to Senate confirmation before stepping into the role.19Jurist. US Federal Judge Invalidates All Official Actions of Kari Lake The ruling voided the mass layoffs, the August reduction in force, and other directives she had issued.20CNN. Kari Lake Voice America USAGM Judge Trump
Trump’s earlier nomination of L. Brent Bozell III as Senate-confirmed CEO had been withdrawn on March 24, 2025, two weeks after it was submitted, and six of the seven members of USAGM’s oversight board had been dismissed. That vacuum was the backdrop for Lake’s operational control of the agency.21Congress.gov. Nomination of Leo Brent Bozell III19Jurist. US Federal Judge Invalidates All Official Actions of Kari Lake
Shutdown Ruled Arbitrary and Capricious (March 17, 2026)
Ten days later, Lamberth issued a broader summary judgment in Widakuswara v. Lake. USAGM leadership acted “arbitrary and capricious” by halting broadcasts and placing nearly all staff on leave without any reasoned analysis or consideration of congressional mandates, the court found. The court vacated the Statutory Minimum Memorandum, holding it “contains no findings, analysis, or consideration of any relevant factors” beyond a conclusory claim that VOA duplicated private broadcasters.22Justia. Widakuswara v. Lake, Memorandum Opinion Lamberth described the agency’s conduct throughout the litigation as a “hallmark production in bad faith.”23Detroit News. How Kari Lake’s Dismantling of Voice of America Unraveled in Court
USAGM was ordered to resume broadcasting, and more than 1,000 employees were directed to return to work by March 23, 2026.24Politico. Voice of America Back to Work The court declined to reinstate the roughly 600 personal service contractors, holding that those claims fell under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims.1Jurist. US Federal Judge Orders Voice of America Broadcasting Restored
The Propaganda Lawsuit: Newhouse v. USAGM
On March 23, 2026, a new suit shifted the legal fight from whether VOA would broadcast to what it was broadcasting. Filed in the D.C. district court, Newhouse v. USAGM alleges the administration has been “twisting” VOA into a “propaganda arm of the Trump administration.”25PEN America. Newhouse v. USAGM
The four journalist-plaintiffs are Barry Newhouse, former acting director of VOA’s Central News Division; Ayesha Tanzeem, director of VOA’s South and Central Asia Division; Dong Hyuk Lee, chief of VOA’s Korean-language service; and Ksenia Turkova, a journalist for the Russian-language service. They are joined by PEN America, Reporters Without Borders, and the Democracy Defenders Fund. The defendants are USAGM, acting CEO Michael Rigas, and Lake.26Democracy Defenders Fund. Press Release — Newhouse v. USAGM
Specific allegations include infusing reports with a “pro-Trump sheen,” airing “glowing” promotional segments about the president, censoring coverage of support for the son of the late Shah during Iranian anti-regime protests, canceling contracts with the Associated Press and Reuters, and negotiating to carry content from One America News Network. Turkova said she refused to return to the agency as a contractor because she believed she “would not have had room to pursue her reporting freely without being influenced by the Trump administration’s agenda.”27NPR. Voice of America Staffers Sue Alleging Kari Lake Put on Propaganda PEN America Co-CEO Summer Lopez said the administration was “gutting VOA” and “twisting the remnants into a propaganda tool,” and Clayton Weimers of Reporters Without Borders’ U.S. affiliate said the administration aims to turn VOA into “a political propaganda machine, cheerleading Trump’s agenda.”26Democracy Defenders Fund. Press Release — Newhouse v. USAGM
Appeals, Current Status, and Leadership
The Justice Department called the March 2026 rulings “judicial overreach” and appealed both summary judgment orders to the D.C. Circuit on March 19, 2026.24Politico. Voice of America Back to Work8Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Widakuswara v. Lake The agency had begun reinstating roughly 70 employees per week when, on March 31, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit paused the reinstatement order pending appeal. The administration did not appeal the broader ruling voiding Lake’s directives or the order to resume broadcasting.28New York Times. Appeals Court Stops VOA Journalists From Quickly Returning
Lake relinquished the acting CEO title on November 19, 2025, but remained at USAGM as deputy chief executive and has said publicly she intends to keep fighting the court rulings.29KJZZ. Judge Ruled Kari Lake Was Illegally Appointed to Voice of America; Broadcaster Is Still in Turmoil Deputy Secretary of State Michael Rigas was named acting CEO after the March 7 ruling. On March 12, 2026, Trump nominated Sarah B. Rogers, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, as the permanent CEO; the position requires Senate confirmation, and Rogers had not been confirmed as of her nomination date.30Reuters. Trump Nominates State Dept Official to Lead Diminished US Global Media Agency
Two things about the scope of what’s been decided are worth keeping straight. The March 17 order to resume broadcasting stands, unappealed. But personal service contractors were not covered by the reinstatement order, and the reinstatement of the roughly 1,000 full-time employees is on hold. The agency has not disclosed whether the approximately 70 employees returned before the appellate stay will be placed back on leave.28New York Times. Appeals Court Stops VOA Journalists From Quickly Returning