Judge orders reinstatement of Voice of America, Radio Free Asia

 By Jayvee Vallejera

Voice of American employees may now go back to work—at least for now—after a federal judge halted the White House’s move to gut the agency and ordered the restoration of over 1,000 employees, who had been placed on administrative leave.

In a 60-page opinion issued on April 22, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court of Columbia granted in part and denied in part the petition to stop the dissolution of the VOA’s mother unit, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, and its affiliated networks: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Network.

“It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the defendants’ actions here,” the ruling states. “The defendants have also likely violated the APA because their actions are ‘not in accordance with law.’” 

Lamberth also said the defendants have shown no process toward shutting down USAGM that the court can discern. 

“They took immediate and drastic action to slash USAGM, without considering its statutorily or constitutionally required functions…and without regard to the harm inflicted on employees, contractors, journalists, and media consumers 

around the world,” Lamberth wrote.

Lamberth’s ruling temporarily halts the shutdown of the federally funded VOA, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

However, it denied the injunction for other USAGM affiliates such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund, which are also suing against their dismantling.

Lamberth’s ruling also bars the termination of service contractors and the mass layoff of unionized staff, saying USAGM must stop “proceeding with any further attempt to terminate, reduce-in-force, place on leave, or furlough” its workforce without proper legal procedures.

Lamberth directed the USAGM to reinstate the status of all employees and contractors and restore the fiscal year 2025 grants for Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks; provide the court with monthly status reports on the status of the defendants’ compliance with his order; and restore VOA’s programming.

The firestorm arises from Executive Order 14238, which President Donald Trump issued on March 14, 2025, directing the elimination of “non-statutory components and functions” of various federal agencies, including USAGM.

The next day, the White House said Trump’s executive order “will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda” allegedly spread by VOA and its affiliates.

USAGM also posted on its website that the agency “is not salvageable. From top-to-bottom this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer—a national security risk for this nation—and irretrievably broken.”

Over 1,000 USAGM employees were placed on administrative leave and termination letters were sent to Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. VOA immediately stopped news production.

Lamberth’s ruling hews to the March 28 decision issued by Judge J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York, which held that the USAGM likely violated several provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.

Oetken's decision also ordered the USAGM to temporarily halt dismantling these agencies and stop any moves to terminate, reduce-in-force, place on leave, or furlough any USAGM employee or contractor.

The lawsuit was fronted by Patsy Widakuswara, VOA White House Bureau chief; Jessica Jerreat, VOA Press Freedom editor; and Kathryn Neeper, USAGM director of Strategy and Performance Assessment. They were joined by a coalition of VOA journalists, labor unions, media watchdogs and contractors, including and the non-profit groups Reporters Sans Frontières and Reporters Without Borders Inc. 

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