NEW YORK: A US federal judge has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to reinstate more than 1,000 employees of the government-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) and resume its global transmissions.
District Judge Royce Lamberth directed the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to bring back 1,042 VOA employees by March 23.
The staff had been placed on paid administrative leave over the past year.
He also ordered the agency to present a plan within a week to restart international broadcasts.
The ruling follows an earlier decision by Lamberth, who found that Trump’s appointee to oversee the agency, Kari Lake, had been unlawfully appointed, rendering the mass layoffs invalid.
Mass layoffs ruled ‘unlawful’
Lake, a former television anchor appointed to head USAGM, had implemented sweeping cuts across the agency.
USAGM oversees VOA as well as outlets such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
According to Reuters, more than 85 per cent of the workforce was eliminated, including over 1,000 VOA staff.
Termination notices were issued to at least 639 additional employees, as part of a broader effort to reduce staffing levels.
Lake defended the move, saying it was aimed at cutting what she described as a “bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy.”
She said around 1,400 positions had been eliminated, leaving the agency operating near its statutory minimum.
However, Judge Lamberth ruled that Lake lacked the legal authority to order such sweeping measures, noting she had not been confirmed by the US Senate.
Court cites arbitrary decision-making
In his latest order, Lamberth described the layoffs as “arbitrary and capricious,” stating the government failed to provide a reasoned basis for dismantling the broadcaster’s operations.
He also said authorities had ignored legal requirements governing VOA’s mandate, including obligations on language services and global coverage.
“Defendants have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth wrote in his ruling.
Strategic role of VOA
VOA was established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda and has since served as a key instrument of US soft power, broadcasting in nearly 50 languages before its operations were scaled back.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the organisation and its editorial independence, which is protected by a statutory firewall preventing government interference in content.
Soon after returning to office, Trump issued an executive order to shut down VOA and scale back other US-funded international broadcasters “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” according to media reports.
