Federal Judge Overturns Kari Lake’s Voice of America Leadership, Voids Staff Cuts

A federal judge has ruled that Kari Lake's time leading the U.S. Agency for Global Media violated federal law, nullifying her decisions to cut jobs and reduce operations at Voice of America. The judge determined Lake was not legally eligible to serve as acting CEO when she took the role.

A federal judge delivered a significant setback to the Trump administration Saturday, determining that Kari Lake’s tenure leading the U.S. Agency for Global Media broke federal law and nullifying her extensive efforts to slash personnel and operations at Voice of America.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a summary judgment favoring the challengers — VOA journalists and a federal workers’ union — who contended Lake’s appointment as acting CEO and her subsequent decisions violated both the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

According to Lamberth’s ruling, Lake lacked eligibility to serve as acting CEO because she wasn’t working for USAGM when former CEO Amanda Bennett stepped down in January 2025, nor had the Senate confirmed her for any other federal position. Lake didn’t officially join USAGM until March as a senior adviser, though an agency announcement in November had described her as deputy CEO.

The court also dismissed the administration’s contention that Lake could exercise CEO powers through delegation from previous acting CEO Victor Morales.

This decision represents the third instance where Lamberth has sided against the Trump administration in Voice of America-related litigation. Earlier rulings in April and September blocked initiatives that would have eliminated numerous VOA positions, though an appeals court later reversed the April decision.

Lake announced plans to challenge Lamberth’s most recent decision. “Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings — and this case is no different,” she said in a statement.

Legal representatives for the challengers did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Lamberth emphasized that under the Vacancies Act, decisions made by someone illegally occupying a vacant position “shall have no force or effect” and cannot be validated afterward. This standard could undermine the legitimacy of Lake’s choices, including workforce reductions affecting hundreds of workers that remain suspended by court order.

“As a consequence, any actions taken by Lake during her asserted tenure as acting CEO between July 31 and November 19, 2025…are void,” Lamberth stated in his ruling.

Voice of America, which previously transmitted programming in 49 languages to 420 million people across more than 100 nations, saw its reach dramatically reduced to just four languages under the administration’s campaign to dismantle the organization.