Federal Judge Strikes Down Kari Lake’s Authority at Voice of America, Voids Mass Layoffs

A Reagan-appointed federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake unlawfully ran the US Agency for Global Media for months, voiding over 1,000 layoffs at Voice of America and dealing another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle America’s international broadcasting.

Constitutional Violations at the Heart of Ruling

Judge Royce C. Lamberth delivered a scathing 17-page judgment that cuts to the core of how government appointments work in America. The Washington federal judge, nominated by Ronald Reagan in 1987, found that Lake‘s appointment violated both the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

‘Only the Appointments Clause or the Vacancies Act’s exclusive structure may authorize service as a principal officer, and Lake satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution,’ Lamberth wrote. The judge concluded there was ‘an unlawful effort to transform Lake into the CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media in all but name.’

The ruling draws parallels to a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision that invalidated the appointment of Alina Habba, Trump‘s former personal lawyer, to lead the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office. It’s part of a pattern where federal courts have pushed back against the administration’s creative interpretations of appointment powers.

The Bureaucratic Shell Game

Lake‘s path to power at USAGM reads like a bureaucratic thriller. After Trump fired six of seven members of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board – the body with congressional authority to appoint the agency’s CEO – there was no legal mechanism to place her in the top job.

Instead, she was named senior adviser to acting CEO Victor Morales, who then delegated nearly all his authorities to her. By July 2025, she was calling herself acting CEO, and later deputy CEO, creating what the judge called ‘public confusion about her precise title.’

Lake would later testify that she exercised about ’95 percent’ of the CEO’s duties and powers, while the acting CEO was responsible for little more than ‘writing reports.’ It was a workaround that might have impressed Machiavelli, but it didn’t fool Judge Lamberth.

A Billion-Dollar Congressional Rebuke

The timing of Saturday’s ruling couldn’t be more pointed. Just last month, Trump signed an appropriations bill that included half a billion dollars more for USAGM than Lake had requested – a figure that translates to roughly $653 million total, compared to the $153 million the administration wanted for an ‘orderly shutdown.’

Lake called the congressional funding ‘disappointing,’ but the bipartisan support sent a clear message. The $643 million allocated for international broadcasting operations represents about a 25% cut from previous years, yet it’s still more than four times what the administration sought.

The funding breakdown tells the story: $199.5 million specifically for VOA, $112.5 million for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, $69 million for Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and $53.5 million for Radio Free Asia. It’s Congress putting its money where its mouth is on press freedom.

From 49 Languages to Four

The human cost of Lake‘s tenure becomes stark when you look at the numbers. Voice of America, which once broadcast in 49 languages to 360 million people worldwide, was reduced to just four languages by the time she finished her cuts – Persian, Mandarin, Dari, and Pashto.

Over 1,000 journalists, producers, and support staff received layoff notices. Many of the agency’s 1,300 employees were placed on administrative leave in March 2025 and remain there today, getting paid to sit at home while America’s voice to the world went largely silent.

Patsy Widakuswara, VOA‘s White House bureau chief and lead plaintiff in the case, said she and her colleagues felt ‘vindicated and deeply grateful’ after Saturday’s ruling. ‘The judge’s ruling that Kari Lake’s actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love,’ she said.

But Lake isn’t backing down. She immediately called Judge Lamberth an ‘activist’ and announced plans to appeal, even making a personal attack on the 82-year-old judge’s weight and suggesting he slept through court arguments.

The Bigger Picture

This legal victory for VOA staff represents more than just a bureaucratic dispute – it’s about America’s role in the global information war. VOA and its sister organizations have served as democracy’s megaphone since World War II, countering authoritarian propaganda from Moscow to Beijing.

The irony isn’t lost on observers that while Trump and Lake were trying to silence America’s international broadcasters, they were simultaneously touting the agency’s broadcasts into Iran during recent Middle East tensions. Just hours before the judge’s ruling, Lake shared a Fox News headline boasting that ‘Voice of America pushes Trump’s message inside Iran.’

Judge Lamberth‘s ruling may have voided Lake‘s actions, but the damage to America’s international broadcasting infrastructure can’t be easily reversed. Office leases have been canceled, equipment has been mothballed, and experienced journalists have scattered to other jobs. Rebuilding that capability will take time, money, and political will – commodities that remain in short supply in today’s Washington.