Voice of America received a legal lifeline Friday after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping attempt to gut the U.S.-funded international broadcaster.
The ruling, delivered by Judge James Paul Oetken in Manhattan, issued an immediate freeze on layoffs, furloughs, and office closures targeting over 1,200 VOA employees and contractors. The decision also protects other U.S.-backed news services, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, from losing their funding.
Calling the Trump administration’s efforts a “classic case of arbitrary and capricious decision making,” Oetken criticized the abrupt nature of the action, which followed a March 14 executive order slashing funds to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and six unrelated federal organizations. The administration claimed the cuts were part of a broader effort to reduce government spending and reshape federal institutions around Trump’s political agenda.
“This is a decisive victory for the First Amendment and for journalism itself,” said attorney Andrew G. Celli Jr., representing a coalition of Voice of America journalists, labor unions, and media advocacy groups who brought the case. “It sends a clear message: the government cannot silence independent media to serve its own interests.”
Oetken’s order also prevents the forced repatriation of overseas staff and bars the agency from dissolving operations or terminating grants essential to U.S.-sponsored journalism abroad.
At the heart of the lawsuit is the allegation that the administration violated existing legal protections designed to keep government hands off editorial decisions. Plaintiffs warned that VOA’s silence on global airwaves has opened the door for misinformation and propaganda from foreign regimes.
Critics within the Trump administration, including special adviser Kari Lake, have long accused VOA of promoting a “leftist” worldview and undermining so-called pro-American messaging. The White House branded the broadcaster as “The Voice of Radical America” and said it had grown too favorable to President Biden and progressive causes, including coverage of racial injustice and LGBTQ+ rights.
Following the funding order, VOA ceased broadcasting on March 15 and many staff were abruptly locked out of internal systems. Some services, such as Radio Marti in Cuba, have since resumed minimal operations, but staffing remains uncertain. Lake, a former journalist herself, has said she’s working to assess how few personnel are needed to keep outlets running under legal mandates.
More lawsuits are pending in Washington, D.C., including one brought by VOA’s director and several senior staff members. Oetken has not yet ruled on the government’s motion to transfer the New York case to D.C. courts.
Established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda, Voice of America has for decades played a strategic role in promoting independent journalism in authoritarian states. With nearly $860 million in funding appropriated for the current fiscal year, USAGM’s future — and that of its global news networks — now lies in the hands of the courts.
