FLASH
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Judge Oetken did not require VOA to resume broadcasting, but his order made clear that employees should not be fired until further court proceedings determine whether the shutdown was "arbitrary and capricious" in violation of federal law.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the administration of US President Donald Trump to temporarily halt its efforts to shut down the Voice of America. The ruling prevents the US government from laying off 1,300 journalists and other employees at the US news service who were laid off earlier this month.
Judge Paul Oetken for the Southern District of New York said in an opinion Friday that the Trump administration could not unilaterally shut down the Voice of America and related radio programs that were authorized and funded by Congress. Canceling funding for those programs would require congressional approval, the judge wrote.
Judge Oetken did not require VOA to resume broadcasting, but his order made clear that employees should not be fired until further court proceedings determine whether the shutdown was "arbitrary and capricious" in violation of federal law.
"This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a stern rebuke to an administration that has shown complete disregard for the principles that define our democracy," said Andrew Celli, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The US Agency for Global Media, which oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other government-funded media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The agency had told unions it was prepared to lay off 623 Voice of America employees, a number that "fully encompasses" any effort to resume broadcasting at the level envisioned by Congress, according to court documents filed by the plaintiffs.
Voice of America was founded to combat Nazi propaganda at the height of World War II and has grown to become an international media broadcaster, operating in more than 40 languages and spreading U.S. news narratives to countries lacking a free press. As a group, the U.S. Agency for Global Media employed approximately 3,500 workers with a budget of $886 million in 2024, according to its most recent report to Congress.
Voice of America journalists and their unions sued the US Agency for Global Media, its acting director Victor Morales and special counsel Kari Lake last week, saying their closure violated the workers' First Amendment right to free speech.
The lawsuit by Voice of America employees is one of four pending challenges to the effort to shut down government-funded media programs. Other challenges have been filed by Radio Free Europe, a separate group of Voice of America employees and the grantee Open Technology Fund.
The US Agency for Global Media had argued that it had not violated laws governing Voice of America operations. The agency said in court filings that it had reduced operations to a “legal minimum” by restoring broadcasts to Cuba and reinstating 33 employees at the Cuba Broadcasting Office./ Adapted by “Pamphlet” from “ Reuters ”
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