A federal judge on Tuesday found the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle Voice of America (VOA) and affiliated news services were likely unlawful, indefinitely blocking the shuttering of the government-funded news outlet and affiliated news services.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered VOA’s parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), to restore VOA and other outlets under USAGM’s umbrella and barred the agency from preventing them from serving as “consistently reliable and authoritative” news sources, as is required by law. 

He also directed USAGM to restore employment to its workers placed on leave and not reduce its workforce while litigation continues, in addition to continuing funding for international broadcasting. 

“In short, the defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down USAGM that this Court can discern,” said Lamberth, an appointee of former President Reagan. “They took immediate and drastic action to slash USAGM, without considering its statutorily or constitutionally required functions as required by the plain language of the EO, and without regard to the harm inflicted on employees, contractors, journalists, and media consumers around the world.  

“It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here,” the judge said.  

A handful of VOA reporters, unions and the international free press advocacy nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sued the Trump administration last month over its effort to disband the news outlets. 

After Trump penned an executive order to shutter USAGM, its employees and contractors were put on administrative leave. The coalition that sued also sought to restore funding for VOA’s sister networks, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Middle Eastern Broadcast Network (MBN) and the Open Technology Fund. 

However, Lamberth said his order does not apply to RFE/RL or the Open Technology Fund because other litigation involves some of the issues at hand.  

Lawyers for the coalition argued Thursday during a hearing on the preliminary injunction that VOA’s “silencing” has “deprived” the world of the quality news Congress promised when establishing the network. Despite President Trump’s order suggesting the network is “unnecessary,” its silencing undermines America’s interests abroad, they said.  

Andrew Celli, one of the lawyers, said the administration’s qualms with USAGM networks stem from their coverage — from its reporting on Hamas or transgender rights to being too tough on Trump. 

“They can use a scalpel or a sledgehammer; either way it’s viewpoint discrimination,” Celli said. 

Trump selected Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor and Arizona gubernatorial candidate, to lead the news agency. In announcing the agency’s wind down, Lake said “waste, fraud and abuse run rampant” in the agency — a common refrain by the administration as it cuts down the federal bureaucracy.  

The Justice Department argued in court filings that the shuttering amounts to “adverse employment actions” that could be remedied by monetary damages should they prevail in litigation, instead of injunctive relief.  

But Lamberth rejected that notion in his ruling, writing that financial harm can constitute irreparable harm where loss threatens the “very existence” of a business. 

“The defendants have silenced VOA, canceled funds to affiliate Networks, and shut down all transmitters at foreign service stations abroad,” the judge wrote. 

“In sum, the irreparable harm that the plaintiffs allege impacts the very existence of USAGM, the health and safety of its journalists and employees, and the interests of the millions of reporters and listeners who depend on USAGM’s programming,” he said.