Trump Will Slash VOA Staff To Just 18 People, Leaked Letter Reveals
'It's comical if it weren't so tragic'
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit delivered the Trump administration a "huge victory" on Saturday, blocking the order of a lesser court that required the reinstatement of over 1,000 Voice of America employees.
Kari Lake, senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which supervises Voice of America, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and a handful of other state-funded outfits including Radio Free Europe, called the ruling a "BIG WIN in our legal cases at USAGM & Voice of America. Huge victory for President Trump and Article II."
"Turns out the District Court judge will not be able to manage the agency as he seemed to want to," added Lake.
The appeals court's 2-1 ruling, which saw Trump-appointed Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao pitted against dissenting Obama-appointed Judge Cornelia Pillard, held that "the government is likely to succeed on the merits because the district court likely lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to enjoin USAGM's personnel actions and to compel the agency to restore RFA's and MBN's FY 2025 grants."
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 14 aimed at reducing various "unnecessary" elements of the federal bureaucracy "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law." Among the entities targeted was the USAGM.
'Ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.'
In a corresponding fact sheet, the White House shared links to articles criticizing the quality and neutrality of the state media outfit's output, as well as a link to a write-up of the American Accountability Foundation's 2022 lawsuit alleging that VOA had "been infiltrated by anti-American, pro-Islamic state interests."
Blaze News previously reported that pursuant to the president's executive order, approximately 1,300 VOA journalists and other employees were placed on administrative leave, and funding was suspended to VOA's sister networks.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled against the administration on April 22, noting that its stated efforts to "ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda" were "arbitrary and capricious" and "likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws," including the VOA's congressionally established charter in the International Broadcasting Act.
Lamberth ordered the administration to "take all necessary steps to return USAGM employees and contractors to their status" prior to Trump's March 14 EO; to restore VOA programming; and to restore fiscal year 2025 grants to Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. He also demanded that the administration provide him with monthly status reports "apprising the Court of the status of the defendants' compliance with this Order."
'The injunction threatens its prerogative to "speak with one voice" on behalf of the United States in foreign affairs.'
The appeals court said in its Saturday ruling that Lamberth "likely lacked jurisdiction over the USAGM's personnel decisions" as federal employees may not use the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge agency employee actions.
"Congress has instead established comprehensive statutory schemes for adjudicating employment disputes with the federal government," noted the court.
While the dissenting Obama judge on the appeals court expressed doubt that Congress' chosen administrative methods could properly process agency-wide claims for over 1,000 employees, the majority noted that "administrative agencies are not powerless to issue broad-reaching relief in large-scale personnel matters."
The court said that Lamberth similarly lacked jurisdiction to restore Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks' grants for fiscal year 2025.
"If a claim against the United States is contractual 'at its essence,' district courts have no power to resolve it," wrote the majority. That authority belongs to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
The appeals court also recognized that Lamberth's order requiring the restoration of all employees and contractors is a harmful "intrusion" that implicates the Trump administration's foreign-affairs authority since USAGM is responsible for presenting the views of the government and supporting U.S. foreign policy.
"By depriving the Executive Branch of control over the individuals involved in its international broadcasting, the injunction threatens its prerogative to 'speak with one voice' on behalf of the United States in foreign affairs," said the court.
Margot Cleveland, senior legal correspondent at the Federalist, noted that this "conclusion should have wide-spread ramifications" because many of the legal challenges brought against the Trump administration "are about employment decisions which CONGRESS said are NOT for district courts to decide."
The appeals court's decision landed a day after the Department of Justice notified lawyers representing VOA workers that they could return to work this week.
In a letter obtained by The Hill sent to VOA staffers' lawyers, the DOJ wrote, "USAGM currently expects staff to begin to return to the office next week, as security, building space, and equipment issues require a phased return."
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U.S. district court judges have done their apparent best to hamstring the second Trump administration just as they had the first.
Between Jan. 20 and March 27, the Congressional Research Service indicated there were at least 17 cases of nationwide injunctions — 11 more than were issued during the entire presidency of George W. Bush and two shy of the total issued during Barack Obama's tenure. At this rate, the courts are on course to beat their previous record of 64 nationwide injunctions under the first Trump administration.
There has been no indication in recent weeks that the judiciary will exercise some self-restraint — certainly not from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where a Reagan judge decided on Tuesday to reverse the Trump administration's shuttering of Voice of America and termination of over 1,000 potentially antagonistic journalists and employees at the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth concluded that the administration's stated effort to "ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda" were "arbitrary and capricious."
'It has essentially become a hubris-filled rogue operation.'
"Not only is there an absence of 'reasoned analysis' from the defendants," wrote Lamberth, "there is an absence of any analysis whatsoever."
The judge overseeing Widakuswara v. Lake added, "The defendants are likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws," including the VOA's congressionally established charter in the International Broadcasting Act.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 14 aimed at reducing various "unnecessary" elements of the federal bureaucracy "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law." Among the entities targeted was the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which supervises Voice of America, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and a handful of other state-funded outfits including Radio Free Europe.
In a corresponding publication, the White House quoted Dan Robinson, a 34-year veteran of VOA, who stated last year:
I have monitored the agency’s bureaucracy along with many of its reporters and concluded that it has essentially become a hubris-filled rogue operation often reflecting a leftist bias aligned with partisan national media. It has sought to avoid accountability for violations of journalistic standards and mismanagement.
The White House also shared links to articles criticizing the state media outfit; a 2022 lawsuit claiming VOA has "been infiltrated by anti-American, pro-Islamic state interests"; and perceived evidence of VOA's bias, including an article downplaying the validity of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
'The defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down USAGM.'
Pursuant to the president's executive order, approximately over 1,000 VOA journalists and other employees were placed on administrative leave, and funding was suspended to VOA's sister networks, including Radio Free Asia.
Kari Lake, senior adviser for the USAGM, noted days later that VOA was "unsalvageable."
"Let's reduce this to the bare minimum and start fresh," tweeted Lake.
Lamberth was evidently of a different mind.
"The defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down USAGM that this Court can discern," he wrote in his Tuesday ruling. "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's for our own national security.'
"It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants' actions here," added the judge.
Lamberth ordered the administration to "take all necessary steps to return USAGM employees and contractors to their status" prior to Trump's March 14 EO; to restore VOA programming; and to restore fiscal year 2025 grants to Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. He also demanded that the administration provide him with monthly status reports "apprising the Court of the status of the defendants' compliance with this Order."
Lamberth's ruling contained echoes from Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York, who issued a temporary restraining order barring the USAGM from canning staff last month.
The Obama judge blasted the Trump administration for "taking a sledgehammer to an agency that has been statutorily authorized and funded by Congress."
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA's White House bureau chief and one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said of Lamberth's Tuesday order, "My colleagues and I are grateful for this ruling. But we know that this is just a small step forward, as the government is likely to appeal."
"This is not just about our jobs and journalistic freedom — it's for our own national security," continued Widakuswara. "Because every day that VOA is not broadcasting, is a day we cede the global information space and allow adversaries to fill it with disinformation and anti-American propaganda."
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When President Donald Trump moved this weekend to dismantle Voice of America, the government-run news network long denounced by conservatives for liberal bias, MSNBC wrote that the move brought an end to "pro-democracy media outlets" countering "authoritarian propaganda" abroad. But VOA's liberal staffers have not only faced criticism for running a left-wing broadcaster similar to NPR; they’re also accused of operating with a pro-Iran bent, producing anti-Israel news coverage, and, in at least two cases, publishing Russian propagandists.
The post 'They’ve Refused To Call a Terrorist a Terrorist': Voice of America’s Demise Comes After Years of Liberal Training Sessions, Pro-Iran Bias, and Even Russian Propagandists appeared first on .
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing his administration to dismantle the United States Agency for Global Media and six other government offices.
The action will impact the USAGM's grantees and subsidiaries, including the Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
'A significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States and promoting freedom and democracy.'
Trump's order, "Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy," calls for the government entities to be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."
The president previously tapped Kari Lake, a former Arizona news anchor and former Republican gubernatorial and Senate candidate, as a senior adviser to the USAGM and the head of the VOA, a federal broadcasting network.
The USAGM and Lake released a statement on Saturday explaining the decision to shut down the agency and its affiliates, highlighting several of the "most egregious findings," including "massive national security violations," "eye-popping self-dealing," and "obscene over-spending."
The Trump administration slammed the agency for being "a product that often parrots the talking points of America's adversaries," noting "$100s-of-millions being spent on fake news companies."
The Associated Press reported that the USAGM terminated its contracts with the media outlet, as well as Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The USAGM's statement claimed that the agency was "not salvageable."
"From top to bottom this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer — a national security risk for this nation — and irretrievably broken. While there are bright spots within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule," the statement read.
"It is unfortunate that the work that was done by self-interested insiders in coordination with outside activist groups and radical leftist advocacy organizations to 'Trump-Proof' the agency made it impossible to reform," the statement continued. "In fact, they weren't just 'Trump-Proofing' the agency from political leadership; they were accountability-proofing the agency from the American people."
The agency noted that most of its staff would be placed on paid administrative leave.
Lake called the president's move "a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States and promoting freedom and democracy."
Last week, Lake posted a video on X explaining that the USAGM under the Biden administration entered into a $250 million annual lease for a new Washington, D.C., skyscraper. She stated that the building — featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, large fountains, Italian marble finishes, and at least 26 conference rooms — has sat empty.
"Here's the kicker: They already have a building that they're located in that is paid off," Lake stated.
Elon Musk responded to Lake's findings, stating, "The government was spending a quarter billion dollars of your taxpayer money per year on an empty building!"
Lake told Musk, "Worse yet, this building is not even equipped to do TV or Media broadcasting. That would cost millions of dollars more to build out. And a well-connected broker walked away with a $10 million commission. A Colossal waste! I am terminating this lease on behalf of the American Taxpayer."
Trump's executive action also directed the dismantling of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency.
Trump requested that the agencies' leaders submit a report within seven days to the Office of Management and Budget acknowledging their "full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent."
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