A federal judge has declared that everything Kari Lake did while running the Voice of America’s parent agency was unlawful — including firing over 1,000 journalists and staff.
On Saturday evening, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a sweeping ruling that Kari Lake — the Trump ally tapped to oversee the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) — never had the legal authority to do any of what she did over the past year.
The judge voided all of her actions, opening the door to reversing the gutting of one of America’s most important international news organizations.
“Lake satisfies the requirements of neither the statute nor the Constitution,” Judge Lamberth wrote in his ruling.
What is the Voice of America?
The Voice of America has existed since World War II. It was built to show the world what American-style journalism looks like — reporting that includes dissent, criticism, and unfavorable facts alongside the good.
Until last year, it broadcast news in 49 languages, reaching people in countries where a free press either doesn’t exist or can’t survive financially.
That mission has been dismantled piece by piece under Lake’s watch.
What Kari Lake Did — and Why it Was Illegal
Lake arrived at USAGM in February 2025 as a “senior adviser” appointed by President Trump.
From the start, her role was murky.
The agency’s then-acting CEO, Victor Morales, signed an order giving Lake most of the CEO’s powers and responsibilities.
By July 2025, Lake began calling herself the acting CEO — a title she was never legally appointed to hold.
Judge Lamberth found that Lake exercised de facto control of the agency, meaning she was running it in practice even without proper legal standing.
“It brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight: restoring VOA’s global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda.”
She later testified in court that she handled about 95 percent of the CEO’s duties.
The acting CEO, she said, was mostly responsible for “writing reports.”
The problem: under federal law, the acting CEO position requires specific qualifications and a formal appointment process.
Lake had neither.
NPR, which had been investigating the issue since August 2025, found no public evidence that Trump ever formally named Lake to the position.
She quietly stopped calling herself acting CEO in mid-November 2025 — two days after plaintiffs challenged her authority in court.
But court filings showed she was still signing official documents with that title as recently as late January and early February 2026.
The Justice Department called it a formatting accident.
Judge Lamberth wasn’t buying it. “Lake is plainly ineligible to serve,” he wrote.
The Damage She Did
Under Lake’s leadership — now ruled illegal — the following happened:
- More than 1,000 journalists and staff were laid off, including almost all full-time employees at Voice of America and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting.
- The Voice of America’s director was fired, in a move the judge had previously ruled unlawful.
- All contractors were dismissed.
- Funding was cut off to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
- A deal was struck to carry content from One America News Network, a right-wing propaganda outlet.
- A new headquarters lease was killed, despite previous agency leadership saying it would save tens of millions in taxpayer dollars.
- Broadcasts shrank from 49 languages down to just six by January 2026.
- VOA’s remaining broadcasts were used to promote pro-Trump messaging, particularly around the ongoing conflict in Iran.
An outside auditor hired by the State Department’s inspector general found the agency so decimated by layoffs that it couldn’t even provide basic financial information for a standard review.
What Comes Next
The ruling opens the possibility of reversing all of it.
Three of the named plaintiffs in the case — VOA journalists Patsy Widakuswara and Jessica Jerreat, and USAGM chief strategy officer Kate Neeper — issued a joint statement calling the ruling “a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution.”
“It brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight: restoring VOA’s global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda,” they wrote.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which co-represented the plaintiffs, called the ruling “a win in the fight against autocracy” and “a powerful affirmation of the rule of law.”
Lake has already said she will appeal. In a statement to NPR, she leaned on Trump’s standard playbook, calling Lamberth — a Reagan appointee — an “activist judge” trying to block efforts to “cut bloated bureaucracy.”
Why This Matters
The Voice of America isn’t just a government media outlet.
For millions of people living under authoritarian governments — in Iran, Russia, China, and beyond — it has been a lifeline to independent information. Shutting it down, or turning it into a Trump propaganda arm, isn’t just an attack on journalism.
It’s a gift to the world’s dictators.
Judge Lamberth’s ruling is a significant legal victory.
But with an appeal likely and an administration that has shown little regard for court orders it doesn’t like, the fight to restore VOA is far from over.
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