The US District Court for the District of Columbia partially blocked the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and its flagship entities like Voice of America (VOA).
The plaintiffs are several VOA employees, including White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara, Press Freedom Editor Jessica Jerreat, and several journalists. They argue that Trump’s effort to shut down the agency violates First Amendment rights, separation of powers, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and the International Broadcasting Act.
The court ruled that shutting down these agencies and placing employees on leave violated constitutional and legal protections. “The termination of contracts with partner organizations and the dismantling of critical infrastructure leading to the complete halt of the agency programming are final agency actions,” the court concluded.
BREAKING: we won! A federal judge has enjoined the administration's shut down of Voice of America
— Norm Eisen (#TryingTrump out now!) (@NormEisen) April 22, 2025
Another success for the Constitution and for us @SDDFund & our many wonderful partners & clients
More details to follow--stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/7BGOD33TV8
Judge Royce C. Lamberth argued that the White House’s actions were rushed and lacking any serious planning. “Not only is there an absence of ‘reasoned analysis’ from the defendants; there is an absence of any analysis whatsoever,” he said. Agencies like VOA have a clear legal mandate from Congress, the judge noted. Including the requirement that the VOA “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news [that is] accurate, objective, and comprehensive.”
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However, the administration acted too hastily, according to the judge who said “It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here.”
The court rejected the White House’s argument that shutting down these agencies is an internal employment issue. The court insisted that this wasn’t just about layoffs—it was about the Trump administration trying to silence a critical piece of public media.
“It strains credulity to conclude the USAGM is ‘still standing’ when its 80-year-old flagship news service, VOA, has gone completely dark with no signs of returning,” the judge wrote.
The White House had argued that the shutdown was temporary. It needed to determine how to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order. The judge didn’t buy it. “VOA is not reporting the news for the first time in its 80-year existence,” he countered.
The judge further argued that since these entities are funded by Congress, the executive branch can’t summarily cut off the funding spigot. “Certainly, disbursing congressional appropriations are statutorily required, and the agency axed them the very same day they were enacted,” he wrote, further noting that “The defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down USAGM that this Court can discern.”
President Trump issued the executive order in March to cut VOA’s operations and put its employees on paid administrative leave. The move was aimed at rooting out state-funded “radical propaganda” in the federal government.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained, “American taxpayers should not be funding anti-American propaganda in the name of journalism.”
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