By Darren Lyn
HOUSTON, United States (AA) - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore Voice of America (VOA) and its internationally-affiliated news services.
Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the administration’s efforts to dismantle the government-funded news services were likely unlawful and ordered that they be indefinitely taken off the chopping block under the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) plan to reduce the federal workforce.
Under the ruling, VOA's parent company, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), must restore VOA and its sister networks, Radio Free Asia and the Middle Eastern Broadcast Network.
Lamberth also barred USAGM from preventing the news services from serving as "consistently reliable and authoritative, accurate, objective, and comprehensive” news sources, as is required by federal law.
In addition, the judge ordered USAGM to restore jobs to workers placed on leave during the Trump administration's initial shuttering process and directed the agency not to reduce its workforce while the matter is addressed in court.
"The defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down USAGM that this Court can discern," said Lamberth. "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 (executive order), 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," Lamberth added.
Lamberth said his order does not apply to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or the Open Technology Fund because those news services are currently involved with additional issues in separate court cases.
In announcing the news service's initial dismantling, Kari Lake, Trump's appointment to lead USAGM networks, said "waste, fraud and abuse run rampant" in the agency.
The judge disagreed with that viewpoint.
"The defendants have silenced VOA, canceled funds to affiliate Networks, and shut down all transmitters at foreign service stations abroad," said Lamberth.
"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 added.