Judge voids layoffs at VOA, rules Kari Lake unlawfully ran US media agency

A federal judge on Saturday voided layoffs at Voice of America (VOA) while also ruling that the U.S. Agency for Global Media's (USAGM) acting CEO, Kari Lake, unlawfully ran the independent federal agency.

U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C., Judge Royce Lamberth wrote that Lake oversaw the media agency in violation of the Constitution's appointments clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

Lamberth's ruling comes after VOA's White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara filed the lawsuit last year.

President Trump nominated Lake to be senior adviser to acting CEO Victor Morales in February 2025. Morales designated Lake "to perform the functions and responsibilities specified" to 19 out of the 22 duties that the CEO assigns," Lamberth wrote. By July, she was made acting CEO and "exercised control over the agency during the period relevant to the motions."