An US court has declared that the effective shutdown of the Voice of America last year was against the law and has directed the reinstatement of many of its reporters.
Court Order Issues 7-Day Deadline
Federal Judge Royce Lamberth has given authorities seven days to put the international broadcaster back on air.
Wartime Roots and Recent Shutdown
The VOA was first created in World War Two to combat Nazi propaganda.
Only a short time after returning to office as president, Donald Trump issued an presidential directive to defund the broadcaster, which his officials accused of left-wing bias. The order also targeted outlets such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, calling for them to be phased out as much as legally possible.
Leadership Changes and Mass Dismissals
President Trump appointed Kari Lake to run the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent company that manages and finances the VOA and other networks.
Lake then sack the vast majority of the agency's employees—over 1,000 staff at VOA alone—with only a handful of employees remaining.
Most of the dismissed staff have been on leave with pay since last year. This even applied to Persian Service reporters who were temporarily|called back to work after Israel attacked Iran last June.
Judge’s Rationale and Ruling
Last week, Judge Lamberth found that Lake lacked the authority to order the suspension of the USAGM workforce, as she had not been approved by the US Senate.
In Tuesday's decision, the federal judge labeled the decision to sack the journalists as “arbitrary and capricious,”, adding that the government had not taken into account laws that determine what languages and regions the VOA must serve.
“The government have provided no a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth wrote.
Journalists’ Legal Challenge and Reaction
Three VOA journalists had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. One of them, Patsy Widakuswara, expressed being deeply grateful for the judge's decision.
“We hope the American people will keep support our mission to produce factual reporting, not biased messaging,” she told the Associated Press.
Uncertain Next Steps and Wider Implications
It is not clear if Lake's proposed successor, Sarah Rogers—whose appointment requires Senate confirmation—will challenge the ruling.
Before being wound down, the VOA broadcast TV, radio, and digital content in nearly 50 languages.
Trump's criticisms of the VOA form part of his wider criticism of the US media, which research indicates American news consumers view as deeply divided.
