Judge overturns 2025 actions taken by Kari Lake as CEO of Voice Of America, including job cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge ruled on Saturday that Kari Lake’s leadership at the U.S. Agency for Global Media for much of last year violated federal law, invalidating a broad series of actions she took to cut staff and end many operations at her Voice of America unit.

In another blow to the Trump administration’s attempts to diminish several government agencies, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a summary ruling in favor of plaintiffs, including VOA journalists and a union representing federal employees, who argued that Lake’s appointment as acting chief executive and the actions she took in that role ran afoul of the federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

Lamberth ruled that Lake was ineligible to serve as interim CEO because she was not employed by USAGM when former CEO Amanda Bennett resigned in January 2025 and had not been confirmed by the Senate for any other federal position. Lake officially joined USAGM in March as a senior advisor. A Nov. 21 agency news release called its deputy executive director.

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The judge also rejected the administration’s argument that Lake could exercise CEO authority through a delegation from the previous acting CEO, Victor Morales.

Saturday’s decision marks at least the third time Lamberth has ruled against the Trump administration in cases involving the Voice of America. In April and September, the judge halted plans that would have put many VOA employees out of work, although the April ruling was later overturned by an appeals court.

Lake vowed to appeal Lamberth’s latest ruling. “Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings, and this case is no different,” he said in a statement.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Under the Vacancies Act, actions taken by someone who does not legally hold a vacant office “shall have no force or effect” and cannot be ratified, Lamberth wrote. That rule could threaten the legal standing of Lake’s decisions, including a staff reduction affecting hundreds of employees who remain under a court-ordered suspension.

“As a result, any action taken by Lake during her tenure as interim CEO between July 31 and November 19, 2025… is void,” Lamberth wrote.

Voice of America, which had broadcast in 49 languages ​​to 420 million people in more than 100 countries, was limited to four languages ​​due to the administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and Franklin Paul)