The Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to rehire all the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Network staff for now.
The judge said all congressional funding must resume to the outlets.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction on behalf of VOA journalist Patsy Widakuswara and her colleagues, against former Phoenix TV anchor Kari Lake. Lake is the acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent federal agency overseeing public service media networks.
Lamberth wrote that the administration’s decision to dismantle the agency was “arbitrary and capricious.”
“Not only is there an absence of ‘reasoned analysis’ from the defendants; there is an absence of any analysis whatsoever,” he wrote.
He also said the Trump administration was “likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws.”
The Trump administration’s legal team had argued that it was not violating VOA journalists’ First Amendment rights because it has stopped all journalism rather than singling out any individual for their viewpoint. Lamberth said he found that argument “troubling.” A request for comment from the Trump administration was not immediately returned.
